440P - Real-world adverse events of targeted therapy reported by pharmacist in oncology clinic

Background

Targeted therapy is emerging as the frontline of cancer treatment due to improved clinical outcomes and enhanced quality of life among cancer patients. However, treatments related to adverse events (AEs) of targeted therapy are associated with the outcome of cancer treatments. This study investigated the frequency and severity of adverse events in cancer patients who receive targeted therapy.

Methods

The study was conducted at a university hospital in northern Thailand, from January to June 2023. We performed a retrospective study concerning patients treated with targeted therapy including multikinase inhibitors, epidermal-growth factors (EGFR) inhibitors, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors, cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6), immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, and phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) inhibitors. All adverse events were reported by pharmacists and confirmed by medical oncologists in electronic medical record (EMR) based on the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. Descriptive statistics were applied for reporting frequency of AEs.

Results

There are 136 cancer patients with targeted therapy. The majority of patients were female (58.1%) with mean age 64.0 ± 11.9 years old. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common cancer (47.1%) followed by hepatocellular carcinoma (14.7%) and breast cancer (11%). The frequency of targeted therapy treatment was erlotinib (18.4%), ceritinib (18.4%), regorafenib (10.3%) and ribociclib (8.1%). Eighty-two patients (60.3%) reported AEs. The most AEs were grade 1-2 (64%). Skin rash was the most common AE (22.8%), subsequently with dry skin (16.9%) and diarrhea (14.7%). Six patients (4.4%) had grade 3 AEs including skin rash (0.7%), Hand foot skin reaction (0.7%), transaminitis (1.5%), and neutropenia (1.5%).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated the frequency of AEs among cancer patients with targeted therapy, the most common AEs included dermatological problems. Rarely severe AEs were reported. Health care providers will need to educate and monitor cancer patients to prevent and monuments AEs during targeted therapy treatment.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.