Oncology Drug Database Greatly Benefits Elderly Cancer Patients
22 September 2011
"There is currently no oncology-specific database that allows healthcare professionals to search for interactions by individual chemotherapy regimen and a combination of chemotherapy regimens. OncoRx is the first and only database that meets this need to help healthcare professionals identify drug combinations that are high-risk, and offer appropriate management plans."
Dr Alexandre Chan, NUS Department of Pharmacy.
Dr Alexandre Chan (far left) and team
Polypharmacy (multiple medication use) has become more prevalent among older people as a wider array of drugs is being used to prevent or treat a growing number of medical problems. To help healthcare professionals identify drug combinations that are high-risk and offer appropriate management plans, Dr Alexandre Chan and his team from the NUS Department of Pharmacy, together with Dr Kevin Yap from the University of Warwick, developed a new database for oncology drugs known as OncoRx.
On average, an elderly cancer patient consumes about six types of medications. “This is due to the co-morbidities (i.e. hypertension, arthritis and coronary artery disease) that are common among the elderly. In addition, cancer patients often receive supportive care medications that are prescribed to alleviate side effects of cancer and cancer treatment. The interactions of the numerous drugs can result in sub-therapeutic effects or increased toxicities which may compromise the outcome of chemotherapy,” explained Dr Chan.
OncoRx contains records of 256 anti-cancer regimens and over 200 non-anti-cancer drugs as well as complementary and alternative medicines. With this database, healthcare professionals can search for drug interactions using the names of the anti-cancer regimens and the common names of other drugs. OncoRx is the first and only database that meets this need.