Opinion
Video
The Pharmacist’s Role in Treatment Evaluation
Author(s):
A panelist discusses how pharmacists play a critical role in tyrosine kinase inhibitors treatment evaluation by addressing patient concerns about dosing, administration, and drug interactions while helping assess efficacy, safety, and tolerability through their knowledge of treatment guidelines, individual drug profiles, and adverse effect management strategies to optimize therapy selection and monitoring for each patient's specific circumstances and comorbidities.
The Pharmacist's Role in Treatment Evaluation
Patients taking tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) face numerous concerns that pharmacists are uniquely positioned to address. Common worries include dosing frequency considerations, administration requirements such as taking medications on empty stomachs or with food, and managing drug interactions like spacing TKIs from acid reducers. Pharmacists play a critical role in educating patients about these factors and helping them develop personalized strategies to incorporate TKI therapy into their daily routines. This individualized approach is particularly important given that TKI therapy is typically lifelong, requiring sustainable management strategies that patients can maintain long-term.
Adverse effects represent another major patient concern that significantly impacts compliance and adherence. Pharmacists excel in this area by providing comprehensive education about both common and rare adverse effects, offering reassurance about what to expect, and developing practical management strategies. They proactively address adverse effect mitigation through supportive care prescriptions like antiemetics and ensure patients know when and whom to contact with concerns. Additionally, pharmacists reassure patients that TKI-related adverse effects often improve over time, while also addressing financial concerns by connecting patients with cost assistance resources and helping them navigate medication access processes.
As critical team members in treatment evaluation, pharmacists contribute essential expertise in assessing TKI efficacy, safety, and tolerability. Their knowledge of treatment guidelines and primary literature enables them to help clinical teams make nuanced decisions about drug selection based on patient-specific factors. Pharmacists understand the safety profiles and appropriate use of all available TKIs, from first-generation options like imatinib to newer agents like asciminib, allowing them to recommend optimal therapy choices based on individual comorbidities and circumstances. They also establish important monitoring parameters, provide patient education about treatment importance and adherence, and guide clinical decisions regarding therapy holds, dose reductions, or switches based on efficacy or tolerability concerns.
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