February 2010 Vol 3, No 1

Opioids remain a mainstay of treatment for moderate-to-severe cancer pain. In this interview, Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN, director, Cancer Pain Program, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, discusses the issues surrounding the use of opioids for the management of cancer pain.

Arizona pharmacists are not particularly well-informed about skin cancer and need to take steps to improve their knowledge, a survey of pharmacists working in a variety of settings found.

The late Rawley M. Guerrero, PharmD, MBA, FASHP, was remembered for his many contributions to pharmacy education and training at a reception for winners of the 2009 ASHP Research and Education Foundation’s Pharmacy Residency Excellence Awards held during the Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas.

Managed care pharmacists, through implementation of a clinical authorization process, can play a pivotal role in securing payer reimbursement of chemotherapy agents at a cancer hospital, according to recent data.

Despite the frequent need for language assistance services (LAS) at community pharmacies and the widespread availability of such services, LAS are underused by community pharmacists, results of a recent survey show.

The launch of the National Alert Network for Serious Medication Errors (NAN) was announced at the opening session of the 44th American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition. ASHP is partnering with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices to develop the alert system in an effort to prevent dangerous and repeated medication errors.

Given elderly patients’ frequent intolerance of the multidrug regimen needed to treat Mycobacterium aviumcomplex (MAC) infections, some patients with solid tumors may do better and survive for prolonged periods with observation compared with pharmacotherapy. Watchful clinical and radiographic monitoring may alert physicians if the infection progresses to a point of requiring treatment.

Given the increasing number of older patients with both cancer and cardiovascular disease and the potential cardiotoxic effects of many cancer therapies, creation of a new specialty called cardio-oncology or onco-cardiology has been suggested (Albini A, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010;102:14-25). New strategies for protecting against cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines were reported at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009.

West Michigan Cancer Center (WMCC) has increased the quality of patient care while updating its business model for today's economic times. In recognition of this achievement, WMCC received a 2009 Cancer Center Innovator Award. The award was presented by Foley & Lardner at the third annual Cancer Center Business Summit in Dallas, Texas.