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Dose standardisation of anticancer drugs

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Abstract

Objective of the study Body size based dosing is often used for prescribing anticancer drugs. However the scientific and the clinical rationales of this historical method have recently been criticized. As a result, alternative dosing strategies have been suggested, as flat-fixed dosing regimens, but not implemented in routine practice. Dose standardisation is a first step in order to rationalise chemotherapy dose calculation. A new method, derived from dose-banding, was developed, taking into account prescription and economic criteria. Setting Feasibility and interest of this concept were studied in two French cancer centres Institut Curie and Hôpital Saint-Louis. Main outcome measures The aim of our study was to assess dose standardisation of expensive anticancer drugs in objectives of quality and economy. Method Nine candidate drugs were selected and standardized rounded doses (SRD) were proposed. To determine the specific standard doses of these two centres, two theoretical and practical methods were applied, and then, their results were compared. For each anticancer drug the objective was to fix SRD in order to cover all the doses most frequently prescribed. Results It has been possible to propose SRD for six of the nine drugs. These SRD have been implemented with the agreement of the medical staff. These doses are, whenever possible, rounded to the nearest vial size, or correspond to a combination of the different strength of the commercial drug. Conclusion Our study shows that dose standardisation is a help to optimise the productivity and improve the organisation of the preparation unit.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Sandy Blondeel and Sylvie Carrie for their contribution.

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None.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacy Department, Hôpital Saint-Louis, AP-HP, 1 avenue Claude Vellefaux, 75010, Paris, France

    Anne-Lise Pouliquen, Nathalie Jourdan, Pierre Faure & Isabelle Madelaine-Chambrin

  2. Pharmacy Department, Institut Curie, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75005, Paris, France

    Laurence Escalup

  3. Oncology Department, Institut Curie, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75005, Paris, France

    Paul Cottu

Authors
  1. Anne-Lise Pouliquen
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  2. Laurence Escalup
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  3. Nathalie Jourdan
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  4. Paul Cottu
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  5. Pierre Faure
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  6. Isabelle Madelaine-Chambrin
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Correspondence to Anne-Lise Pouliquen.

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Pouliquen, AL., Escalup, L., Jourdan, N. et al. Dose standardisation of anticancer drugs. Int J Clin Pharm 33, 221–228 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-010-9478-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-010-9478-6

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