The application of pharmacoinformatics in enhancing pharmaceutical care of patients with cancer

Abstract

This research project addresses the issue of whether pharmacoinformatics can be utilised in oncology practice to enhance the pharmaceutical care of cancer patients at high risks for drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and adverse drug reactions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). The main thrust of this work revolved around the creation of OncoRx, a novel oncology-specific database, which can detect DDIs of 117 anticancer drugs and 256 chemotherapy regimens with 51 psychotropic agents and 166 complementary and alternative medicines. Additionally, principal component analysis managed to identify several risk factors (histories of alcohol drinking, CINV, fatigue, gender) and anxiety symptoms (fear of dying, fear of the worst, unable to relax, hot/cold sweats, nervousness, faintness, numbness) as potential CINV predictors from a prospective, observational study. The application of pharmacoinformatics as a novel platform and strategy demonstrates its utility in improving the pharmaceutical care of cancer patients by targeting specific drug-related problems.