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It is essential for oncology pharmacists to update their knowledge, skills, and ethical attitudes. The Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Oncology is an academic society for healthcare professionals involved in cancer treatment. It has conducted in-person seminars every year to cultivate the knowledge necessary for practicing advanced cancer medicine. Owing to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the society was obligated to conduct a web-based seminar this year. A questionnaire survey was conducted before and after the webinar to explain how it works and to assess the learning attitudes of beginner and moderately skilled pharmacists in the field of oncology. Questionnaire surveys were conducted with the participants before and after watching the webinar. The questionnaires sought to determine participants' perspectives on the webinar and their knowledge of the seven modules. Of the 1756 webinar attendees, 1661 (94.6%) answered the pre-webinar survey and 1586 (90.3%) answered the post-webinar survey. Results indicate that the median post-webinar knowledge score was significantly higher than the median pre-webinar score (p 0.001) in all modules. Principal component analysis of the degree of knowledge of seven modules revealed that the improved score group consisted of those from younger age groups, with less experience as pharmacists, non-society members, and those with less experience in past society seminars. Moreover, the web-based seminar provided a uniform learning effect throughout the country without distinguishing between urban and rural learners. The web-based educational program was an acceptable educational tool for Japanese oncology pharmacists.

What is known and Objective Continuing education is essential for pharmacists to acquire and maintain the knowledge, skills, and ethical attitudes necessary for clinical practice. However, with the emergence of COVID‐19, the social circumstances and face‐to‐face learning environments have changed. The objectives of this study were to determine Japanese pharmacists’ perception of a web‐based educational programme in oncology, and assess changes in their understanding of pharmaceutical care in oncology before and after their participation in the webinar. Methods Questionnaire‐based surveys were conducted for the participants of the web‐based educational programme to determine their perspectives on the webinar, and their degree of comprehension of the five cancer types covered before and after watching the webinar. Results and Discussion Of the 1936 pharmacists taking the programme, all participated in the pre‐webinar survey, and 1861 (96.1%) in the post‐webinar survey. Compared with previous seminars that were held in the offline mode before the COVID‐19 pandemic, 76.8% of respondents were significantly satisfied with the web‐based educational programme. The median post‐webinar comprehension scores in all modules were significantly higher than the median pre‐webinar scores (p, With the emergence of COVID‐19, the remote learning style was needed. Therefore, we developed and evaluated a web‐based programme for pharmacists to provide advanced oncology pharmaceutical care training. As a result, the median post‐webinar comprehension scores in all modules were significantly higher than the median pre‐webinar scores (p

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence and explore the risk factors of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with esophageal cancer receiving neoadjuvant docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (DCF) chemotherapy in real-world settings. We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 128 consecutive patients with esophageal cancer. Specifically, these patients underwent neoadjuvant DCF chemotherapy with prophylactic antibiotic administration at our institution between July 2009 and January 2015. Two FN-related endpoints were set as follows: definite FN (dFN) defined as grade 4 neutropenia at the onset of fever and clinically suspected FN (csFN), which included both patients with dFN and patients without grade 4 neutropenia but with deteriorating grade 3 neutropenia at the onset of fever who were clinically diagnosed with FN for which they underwent treatment. The risk factors for dFN and csFN were evaluated based on patients’ characteristics. A total of 72 (56.3%) patients developed grade 3 or grade 4 neutropenia and 26 (20.3%) developed csFN including 14 (10.9%) with dFN. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age (OR 3.57, CI 1.27–10.1, P = 0.016) and living alone (OR 5.17, 95% CI 1.26–21.3, P = 0.023) were statistically significant risk factors for csFN development. As to dFN, no statistically significant risk factors were identified. Older age and living alone are significant risk factors for developing FN, and thus, particularly for patients with risk factors for FN, G-CSF should be considered instead of prophylactic antibiotics with careful observation.

Backgrounds: Incidence of infusion reactions (IRs) was 12% (Gr2 > : 2%) in EXTREME study and 6% (Gr > 2: 3%) in Japanese phase II study. However, cetuximab (Cmab) was used with various chemotherapy regimens in daily practice, and the incidences of IRs are unclear. Objectives: The aim of the retrospective study was to investigate incidence of IRs in various Cmab-containing regimens and to identify factors associated with IRs. Methods: In this study using patient records, we retrospectively investigated IRs in head and neck cancer patients who had been treated Cmab-containing regimens until November 2013. Results: There were 130 head and neck cancer patients, median age = 64 yrs [range 24-79], male/female: 101/29, ECOG PS 0/1/2/3: 105/24/0/1, who received Cmab -containing chemotherapy: Cmab+ other cytotoxic agents/Cmab + radiation/ Cmab mono therapy: 87/20/23. There were 11 patients (8%) who had IRs, Gr 1/2/3/4: 3/7/0/1, and it occurred in cycle 1/2/3: 9/1/1. The statistical trends observed in the univariate analysis were Scr (p = 0.078), sex (p = 0.054), Cmab loading dose (p Summary: Our study found the incidence of IRs was 8% (Gr2 > : 1%), and the incidence was not related with taxans and higher doses of Cmab.