The anadian ssociation

The Canadian Association of Pharmacy in Oncology
Association Canadienne de Pharmacie en Oncologie
Newsletter
Summer 2006
Presidents Message
Summer is finally upon us and as we start thinking
about taking our vacation and relaxing from our
hectic schedules, I would like to update you on
what is happening with your association.
We just conducted a member’s survey and I would
like to sincerely thank you all for taking some of
your precious time to participate in it. I am quite
happy with the results: 61 CAPhO members
answered the survey, which is close to 40% of the
membership. The survey focused on issues like
CAPhO as an association, on education needs for
oncology pharmacy, revisiting the CAPhO
Standards of Practice, the new CAPhO website
and the future of the practice of oncology
pharmacy. The survey results are available on the
CAPhO website at www.capho.org/survey.htm
Two keys issues stand out in the survey: firstly, the
need for education and, secondly, the need for
CAPhO to improve communication at all levels.
Education seems to be an ongoing need for
oncology pharmacists for many reasons. CAPhO
will try to answer that need for knowledge via
NOPS, and e-learning programs, which we would
like to see happen during the next two years. We
are also looking into the possibility of doing a Basic
Principles of Oncology Therapeutics
module/presentation at CSHP’s Professional
Practice Conference and CPhA’s annual
conference.
Concerning communication, the new website is our
major communication tool and I encourage all
CAPhO members to use it to its maximum
capacity. It is YOUR tool, use it! We are also
looking at strengthening ties with other
associations and developing tools to increase
visibility for the association. Please continue to give
us feedback on what you would like.
On that note, I would like to wish all of you a
pleasant summer and I am looking forward to
seeing all of you at NOPS 2006 in Montreal.
Gabriel Gazzé
CAPhO President
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NOPS 2006 (October 13-15)
Although summer is here, NOPS is just around the
corner! The conference program is now posted on
the CAPhO website and registration is open (early
bird registration deadline is September 15). The
theme for 2006 is “The Dollars and Sense of
Quality Cancer Care”. If you are interested in
learning, discussing, sharing, and networking in
this specialized and important field, this is the
symposium to attend. It will cover topics in the
areas of symptom management, new drug
updates, pharmacy based research, board
certification and academic training, and so much
more.
The venue will be the luxurious Hyatt Regency
Montréal in the heart of downtown Montreal, which
is within walking distance of Old Montréal,
Chinatown and the trendiest restaurants with direct
underground access to the Metro and the
Contemporary Museum of Art. More details about
booking are posted on the web site.

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The poster display was an overwhelming success
at NOPS 2005 and CAPhO invites you to begin
preparing your posters immediately for submission
(the deadline is August 31, 2006 at 16:00 PST.)
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Supportive-care Issues in Cancer:
An Update for the Oncology Pharmacist
CAPhO/Merck modules are now available to all
CAPhO members! In collaboration with Merck
Frosst, CAPhO has developed modules on
supportive-care issues in cancer over the last two
years. These modules were designed specifically
for the oncology pharmacist. The topics include:
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Cancer pain.
• Mucositis and Palmar-plantar
Erythrodysesthesia (PPE).
• Neutropenia.
• Bowel obstruction.
These modules are now available free of charge to
all CAPhO members via the order form which is
available on the CAPhO website in the member’s
area.
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Predicting the Risk of CoMorbid Events in
Cancer Patients: The Launch of a New Website
for Oncology Pharmacists
www.PredictPatientEvents.com
Submitted by George Dranitsaris, Member at Large
Dr. Mark Vincent (Medical Oncologist, London
Regional Cancer Program, Ontario) and I recently
launched a new website for estimating the percent
risk of co-morbid events in cancer patients.
Treatment induced side effects or co-morbid
events are commonly thought to be largely
unpredictable. As a result, oncology health care
providers usually take action only after the event
occurs. This means trying to "rescue" the patient
from an unpleasant and potentially dangerous
situation, and adjusting the regimen (e.g. dose
reduction) and/or institution of supportive care.
Accurately predicting and preventing significant
toxicities would substantially improve clinical
care. This might include the use of appropriate
supportive care medication, as well as
forewarning the patient and initiating a more
intensive early monitoring scheme and action
plan for early intervention. The realities of health
care systems around the world preclude this for
all patients, throughout all cycles of
chemotherapy. What may be possible, however,
is a highly focused strategy based on the
accurate prediction of patients at higher than
average risk, applied "just-in-time" to pre-empt
episodes of toxicity. This is some of the
information the website intends to provide to the
oncology clinician.
What does it provide?
The website has validated models, which provide
patient specific information on the percent risk for a
particular toxic event. The prediction models were
developed from data collected from adult cancer
patients and should not be used for patients less
than 18 years of age. Note that a user must initially
“request access” to the website (no cost).
What types of risk calculations are currently
available?
• Moderate to severe nausea and vomiting
during the first 24 hours, and for 2-5 days
following chemotherapy for a wide variety of
disease sites.
• For chemotherapy in adjuvant breast cancer, 3
risk calculators linked with blood hemoglobin
are available which provide a percent risk for
anemia either during or prior to a cycle of
chemotherapy.
• For chemotherapy in advanced non small cell
lung cancer, one anemia risk calculator is
available for assessing the risk of anemia
(defined as a blood hemoglobin ≤ 100 g/L) prior
to a cycle of palliative chemotherapy
Who should use the website?
The current website should only be used by a
qualified medical professional or an allied health
care professional, who is working under the
supervision of a treating physician. The website
should not be used by patients or family members.
Summary
This website is intended as an information tool for
the practicing oncology pharmacist. It must not
replace clinical judgment, but should be used as an

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additional piece of information for medical decision-
making. The hope is to add new prediction models
to the website. For example, in the near future, we
will have a prediction tool for severe chemotherapy
induced diarrhea in metastatic colorectal cancer
patients receiving FOLFOX or FOLFIRI
chemotherapy. Since we want improve the
website, we would welcome feedback from users.
For more info or feedback:
George Dranitsaris
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
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New at CAPhO: the CAPhO Scientific
Endorsement Subcommittee
Submitted by Gabriel Gazzé, CAPhO President
The CAPhO executive met recently and felt that it
was time to create a CAPhO Scientific
Endorsement Subcommittee. Over the past years,
CAPhO has often been approached to endorse or
validate documents, projects, and literature related
to oncology. In the past, we have declined this type
of endorsement since there was no mechanism in
place allowing us to do so. However, we now feel
that creating a mechanism for endorsement would
give value to projects CAPhO believes in and at
the same time would give more visibility to our
association.
This means developing terms of reference and
validation criteria to be able to review projects
seeking endorsement. The projects would come
through the CAPhO Executive to the subcommittee
when necessary. Communication would be by
email or teleconferencing. Travel and face-to-face
meetings are not anticipated at this time.
As a result, we are looking for volunteers to
participate in this subcommittee. If you are
interested, please contact Gabriel Gazzé at
[email protected].
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CAPhO Membership Committee
Submitted by Betty Riddell
The purpose of this Committee, sanctioned by the
CAPhO Executive Committee at its Annual
Meeting in October 2005, is to develop ways to
enhance the tangible and intangible benefits of
membership in CAPhO and to increase the
number and involvement of members in the
governance and committee structures of the
association.
Currently the committee is focusing on:
• Membership recruitment and retention,
maintenance of an accurate membership
mailing list and membership data base,
categories of membership, and benefits of
membership in CAPhO
• Strategies to raise the level of awareness of
CAPhO, both at the oncology pharmacy level
and with other related professional
organizations
• Collaboration with the CAPhO Awards
Committee in developing a formal nominations
process that allows members to participate in
the process of identifying potential candidates
for awards.
The committee will also be working to: identify
appropriate responses to members’ needs;
promote new and existing membership benefits,
and establish mechanisms for increasing
members’ awareness of CAPhO activities.
At present, the Committee members include: Flay
Charbonneau, Roxanne Dobish, George
Dranitsaris, Lynne Nakashima and Betty Riddell.
The Committee welcomes your comments and
suggestions. If you would like to serve CAPhO as a
committee member now or in the future, please
contact Betty Riddell at br[email protected].
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Post your career opportunities on the CAPhO
website!
The CAPhO website offers you the possibility of
posting career opportunities in Oncology Pharmacy
and reaching out to CAPhO members in all
provinces. For a fee of $300.00, your
advertisement is posted for 30 days on the CAPhO
website via a link on the homepage. This also
entitles you to email your career opportunity to all
CAPhO members. Please send your career
opportunities to our Webmaster, Karen Heathman:
[email protected]