THE KEY ROLE OF THE CLINICAL PHARMACIST IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ANTICANCER THERAPIES: A PILOT STUDY IN THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

Abstract

Lung cancer accounts for a quarter of all mortality cases worldwide. To date, numerous efforts have been done to identify the best therapeutic approach, especially in the advanced stage of the disease, and to extend the overall survival of patients. Careful surveillance of patients during therapy is essential in order to identify undesirable effects and to evaluate possible adverse reactions in case of coadministration. This study aims to compare two types of anticancer therapy, immunotherapy and chemotherapy, administered to NSCLC patients in the Medical Oncology Unit of the ARNAS “Di Cristina Benfratelli” Civic Hospital in Palermo (Italy), and to highlight the key role of clinical pharmacist in the management of anticancer therapies, by analysing the side effects in the short-term postadministration and the adverse drug reactions, in particular drug-drug interactions, in case of comorbidities.