The number of contract clinical trials conducted at the Shizuoka Cancer Center has been increasing every year and in them there has been a marked increase in patients undergoing combination chemotherapy.The number of investigational agents being dispensed has also increased and a need has arisen for greater efficiency in investigational agent distribution,the preparation of injectable anti-cancer drugs,and the management of concomitant drugs.In addition,it was noted that clinical pharmaceutical management counseling for clinical trial participants had not been fully put into practice.In response to these issues,we created a special tool for the management of concomitant drug use based on commercially available software and made efforts to reduce human error in the preparation and distribution of investigational agents as well as in promoting pharmaceutical management counseling for trial participants.
The software tool that we created has significantly shortened search times as compared with the previous paper records,leading to an overall increase in efficacy.There has also been an increase in counseling on pharmaceutical management for clinical trial participants.This is partly due to the clinical path we created and allows us to quickly track all of the participants.
In conclusion,there is a need for pharmacists to actively contribute to clinical trials,not only through the management of investigational agents but also through that the management of concomitant drug use and pharmaceutical management counseling.