Development of a structured oncology pharmacy medication resource to support patient counselling in outpatient cancer care: A cross-sectional evaluation

Abstract

Background

Outpatient oncology pharmacies manage increasingly complex antineoplastic, hormonal, and supportive therapies that require precise and consistent patient counselling to ensure safe and effective use. Oral anticancer agents, hormonal therapies, biologics, and opioid analgesics pose particular challenges due to narrow therapeutic windows, long treatment durations, and specific administration and safety requirements. Inconsistent counselling may increase the risk of medication errors, non-adherence, and delayed recognition of adverse effects in cancer patients.

Objective

To develop a comprehensive and standardized oncology drug data resource to support pharmacists in delivering consistent, accurate, and patient-centered counselling in outpatient oncology care.

Methods

This study employed a cross-sectional tool development and descriptive evaluation design focused on the development and structured evaluation of a counselling support tool. A total of 63 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) commonly used in outpatient oncology units were included. These APIs were selected to represent the most frequently dispensed and clinically high-risk medications encountered in routine outpatient oncology practice, while rarely used agents and therapies limited to inpatient or day-hospital settings were excluded to ensure practical relevance. Key counselling domains - administration instructions, safety precautions, red-flag symptoms, reproductive considerations, and storage requirements - were systematically compiled from validated references and expert pharmacist input. High-priority medications requiring enhanced counselling were identified based on treatment complexity and patient risk.

Results

Each medication required an average of 5–10 counselling points, reflecting the heterogeneity and complexity of outpatient oncology therapies. The finalized tool provides structured counselling guidance for all included APIs and is designed for integration into the hospital electronic system, allowing multilingual printing for inclusion in patient documentation. This dual-format approach may facilitate consistent access to reliable counselling information for healthcare professionals and patients.

Conclusion

This structured oncology drug data resource offers a validated, accessible, and standardized reference intended to support patient counselling in outpatient oncology practice. This study provides a descriptive evaluation of the developed tool rather than an assessment of clinical effectiveness or patient-level outcomes. Its integration into hospital information systems has the potential to contribute to safe medication use, improved adherence, and high-quality patient education, but these effects remain to be evaluated in future studies. Future studies should assess its impact on patient comprehension, adherence, and clinical outcomes in cancer care.