Abstract
Background
Outpatient cancer chemotherapy increasingly requires patients to manage oral anticancer agents at home, making adherence support and adverse event monitoring critical. Community pharmacists may contribute to treatment continuity through regular telephone follow-up (TFU), but evidence in the community pharmacy setting remains limited.
Objectives
This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between community pharmacy–based TFU and treatment completion among patients receiving postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for gastric or colorectal cancer.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients who received oral anticancer–containing adjuvant chemotherapy at a community pharmacy in Japan between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2024. Patients were classified into TFU and non-TFU groups according to whether a community pharmacist-led telephone follow-up was conducted after initial counseling. The primary endpoint was treatment completion based on the planned regimen duration. Patients who completed the planned treatment duration, including those requiring dose reductions or temporary postponements, were considered to have completed treatment. Adverse events were graded using CTCAE v5.0-JCOG.
Results
Sixty-three patients were included (TFU: n = 33; non-TFU: n = 30). The treatment completion was significantly higher in the TFU group than in the non-TFU group (58% vs. 23%, p = 0.006). Grade 1 adverse events were more frequently identified in the TFU group, whereas Grade 2 events were more common in the non-TFU group, suggesting earlier detection and intervention through TFU.
Conclusions
Community pharmacist-led TFU may support treatment continuity and facilitate early detection of adverse events during adjuvant chemotherapy. These results highlight the role of community pharmacies in collaborative cancer care beyond hospital-based settings.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.