ISOPP’s Publication on Biosimilars is published as a supplement in the Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice (JOPP) . CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PUBLICATION.Read more
The situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to change and evolve; what will not change is our Society’s commitment to do everything we can to support our members.Read more
Aygin Bayraktar-Ekincioğlu, PhD, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, discusses oncology pharmacy practice in Turkey, and the main challenges for pharmacists.Read more
Andrew Davies, NHS Improvement, London, UK, discusses the challenges of aseptic compounding services in the UK, and how the service can be developed and joined up for future needs.Read more
Islam Elkonaissi, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, outlines the risk of developing hyperglycemia through steroid treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treatment (NSCLC) who are receiving immunotherapy, and explains how we might minimize this risk.Read more
Calum Polwart, County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Durham, UK, discusses the basic principles and benefits of dose banding in oncology pharmacy.Read more
Carlo DeAngelis, PharmD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada, takes us through the use of medicinal cannabis in Canada, including the legislation, logistics and perceptions of this treatment option for pain and other side effects in patients with cancer. He highlights the need for more research on this agent.Read more
Aygin Bayraktar-Ekincioğlu, PhD, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, reviews data from a publication on drug-related problems with targeted / immunotherapies at an oncology outpatient clinic, which demonstratde the impact of a clinical pharmacist in an outpatient oncology care setting.Read more
Andrew Davies, Director of Hospital Pharmacy for NHS Improvement, London, UK, reviews the plans for improvements in pharmacy in the era of new drugs and increasing demands on the service. He touches upon digital worksteams, robotic dispensing and more.Read more
Antoine Sedrak, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia, takes us through his group’s study looking at the perspectives of patients with cancer on a community pharmacy diabetes screening service. He highlights the enablers and barriers to at-risk patients accessing this service.Read more
There have been ground-breaking developments in the treatment of cancer in the past few decades, with more on the horizon. Here, John Wagstaff, MB ChB, MD, FRCP, Swansea University, Swansea, UK, gives an expert overview of the key milestones and what’s to come.Read more
Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Storrs, CT, highlights data coming from a study looking at methods to improve patient understanding of adverse events in cancer, which received an International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) Research Grant. Dr Holle also describes the next steps for this exciting research.Read more
Mary Gunther, Stollery Children’s Hospital, Edmonton, Canada, explains pediatric medication dose banding, including how doses can be banded, and the barriers and enablers to implementation. She then describes the Albertan implementation and experience of a province-wide clinical information system.Read more
Michael Marshall, from the Good Thinking Society, UK, discusses the charity’s aims and the importance of improving awareness of treatments that are not evidence-based.Read more
Dharmisha Chauhan, MPharm, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK takes us through her immunotherapy led, non-medical prescribing clinic, where helping patients living with and beyond cancer is a key goal.Read more
Long-time International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) member Felice Musicco, from the Regina Elena San Gallicano Institute, Rome, Italy, discusses his journey with ISOPP and the benefits that it brings.Read more
Rob Duncombe, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, explains the updated license indication for dosing of pembrolizumab across all monotherapy indications; an extended duration between doses. He highlights the impact of this new 6 weekly dosing regimen on patients and pharmacists, and describes the implementation process at his institute.Read more
Pharmacy aseptic compounding services for the NHS in England are facing a number of challenges, which are being embraced with an ongoing national programme of work to develop and implement a national strategy for service development. With increasing demands, Tim Root, NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service, London, UK, highlights how the service can be developed to meet future needs.Read more
Calum Polwart, County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, Durham, UK, discusses his work on a multi-center audit of the rapid infusion of biosimilar rituximab in patients with hematological malignancies.Read more
Simon Noble, MBBS, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, discusses the pathophysiology and heterogeneity of cancer associated thrombosis (CAT). He highlights how common the condition is, and the need for more understanding of the best way to care for patients with CAT.Read more
International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) 2019 Symposium Chair and British Oncology Pharmacy Association (BOPA) Treasurer, Rob Duncombe, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, discusses the collaboration between ISOPP and BOPA this year, highlighting the benefits of worldwide collaboration among oncology pharmacists.Read more
Sandrine von Grünigen, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland takes us through the main principles and outcomes from the use of Cyto-SAT – a self-assessment tool for the safe handling of cytotoxic medicines in low- and middle-income countries. The tool is freely available from: https://pharmed.datapharma.ch/.Read more
Felice Musicco, from the Regina Elena San Gallicano Institute, Rome, Italy, discusses his work on real-world clinical outcomes in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with palbociclib.Read more
Simon Noble, MBBS, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, takes us on the journey of the management of cancer associated thrombosis (CAT) over time. Where once warfarin was the only anticoagulant, low molecular weight heparin emerged to change the game. Prof. Noble then highlights the significance of the release of direct acting oral anticoagulants (DAOACs).Read more
John Wagstaff, MB ChB, MD, FRCP, Swansea University, Swansea, UK, discusses a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of extracting data directly from a chemotherapy prescription platform utilized in standard care., in order to conduct real-world oncology research This pilot may be used as a framework for future studies using direct, automated extraction from prescription platforms.Read more
Pharmacists of today face many challenges; one being that they can be in high demand! As highlighted here by Rob Duncombe, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, certain clinical services have become reliant upon pharmacists to fulfil essential roles.Read more
Biosimilars can bring many benefits; here, Rob Duncombe, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, discusses the biosimilars currently being used in cancer treatment, and the key role of pharmacists in their implementation and usage.Read more
Dharmisha Chauhan, MPharm, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, lists the data highlights from ESMO 2019, including the BEACON CRC trial (NCT02928224), updates in the melanoma and sarcoma fields, and new renal cancer guidelines.Read more
There is a growing trend for fundraising for dubious private cancer treatments, often abroad, which are typically positively publicized by the media. Here, Michael Marshall, from the Good Thinking Society, UK, eloquently explains the issue, and what should be done on a national or global scale to combat the exploitation of vulnerable patients.Read more
First discussing what qualifies as palliative care, Simon Noble, MBBS, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, explains cancer associated thrombosis (CAT) treatment in this context. Despite the limitations of data, it appears that anticoagulation during the end of life confers a bleeding risk without additional benefit of symptom control.Read more
Islam Elkonaissi, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, outlines a plan to create a strategic document for oncology pharmacists.Read more
Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Storrs, CT, reviews a recent case study of a patient with castrate-resistant prostate cancer who responded to treatment for a secondary folliular lymphoma following treatment with rituximab.Read more
As the end of October draws to a close, it’s the topic that’s on everyoe’s mind – Brexit. Here, Rob Duncombe, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, discusses how this may affect pharmacy, highlighting that we cannot predict the future but that the NHS is preparing for all eventualities. .Read more
Stefanie Krens, from Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, discusses the collaborative tool from her institute and the University of Liverpool; the Cancer Drug Interactions website ( https://cancer-druginteractions.org/ ), which is also available as an app. Cancer drug interactions can be complex, but understanding and avoiding adverse combinations is essential.Read more
Himanshu Patel, MPharm, PhD, Education Committee Chair of the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) from Canada, discusses the ISOPP Committee objectives and aims moving into 2020.Read more