Survey on adverse drug reactions in cancer patients and approaches for its management

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting continues to be a challenge. It is estimated that about 95% of AEs never get reported after pharmacotherapy necessitating strategies to improve it. The introduction of databases such as VigiAccess in which ADR data from Pharmacovigilance centers around the world can be assessed is an important step toward improving ADR reporting. This study assessed the therapeutic management of cancer patients in the Delhi-NCR region along with the reporting pattern of ADRs in VigiAccess, an open-access pharmacovigilance database.

Methods: Primarily, the cancer patients were investigated employing a questionnaire. Further, VigiAccess was thoroughly searched for the categories of reported ADRs and the number and types of ADRs reported for a few selected drugs used in the treatment of cancer patients.

Results: After a thorough search through VigiAccess, 06 main categories of reported ADRs in the database were retrieved. These included blood and lymphatic system disorders, skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, psychiatric disorders, respiratory, thoracic, and mediastinal disorders, general disorders, and administration site conditions.

Conclusion: There is a need for vigilant ADR monitoring to decrease morbidity and mortality due to ADRs, which requires further studies on a larger population. This study demonstrated that monitoring of anticancer drugs given in chemotherapy-related ADRs is feasible in a cancer ward and can facilitate quality improvement initiatives, as well as potentially improve patient care.