A Prospective Study on Drug Prescription Pattern of Chemotherapeutic Agents in Breast Cancer Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Jyothi Basini^1,*, Bhargavi D², Ravi Kishore¹, Khirun Bande¹, Kranthi Langipalli¹

¹Department of Pharmacy Practice, Seven Hills College of Pharmacy (Autonomous), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA

²Department of Medical Oncology, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.

Abstract:

Background: Breast cancer is a multi-factorial disease, comprises a group of heterogeneous and complex diseases that evolves due to uncontrolled cellular growth, differentiation and the loss of normal programmed cell death. The present study was explicitly aimed to assess the prescription pattern of chemotherapeutic agents in breast cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: The demographic details and required relevant treatment chart information of patients who met the inclusive standards have been entered into specially designed proforma for the evaluation of prescription pattern against standard NCCN guidelines. The study was conducted in December 2020 to May 2021 at medical oncology department, SVIMS, SPMC (W), Tirupati, and Andhra Pradesh. Results: A total of 75 patients were included in this study. The most prescribed combinational regimen had been found to be Adriamycin, Cyclophosphamide and Taxanes (ACT), which were utilised in 29.33% of patients. Trastuzumab was the most prescribed monotherapeutic agent in 10.6% Patients. Apart from Ondansetron, Dexamethasone and Ranitidine which were considered nearly in all the patients, Promethazine and PEG filgrastim have been set up in 53.3% and 44%. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 13 patients, adjuvant chemotherapy in 30 patients and chemotherapy alone in 32 Patients were established. Conclusion: The drugs prescribed had been determined to be rational and acknowledged to preclude the development of ailment keeping the compliance with respective NCCN guidelines. Smaller pattern length might be a restricting thing ceasing the in-intensity analysis.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Drug prescription pattern, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy drugs, Adjuvant chemotherapy drugs.