Association of Community Cancer Centers Releases Latest Podcast that Offers Tips for Onco-Pharmacy

Rockville, MD (January 26, 2021) - The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) today released its latest CANCER BUZZ podcast episode aimed at arming pharmacists with strategies to help patients manage and adhere to their oral anti-cancer medication regimens. The podcast is produced as part of ACCC’s project: Evaluating Pharmacy Dispensing Models to Help Improve Cancer Care Delivery. More information about this project can be found here.

The show dives deep into anti-cancer oral medication management and a featured interview with guest Emily Hajjar, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCACP, BCGP, Program Director, Population Health Pharmacy Program and pharmacy professor at the Jefferson College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, PA. The topics covered in-depth in the show include strategies for patient education, cancer team coordination, side effect monitoring and management of medications from both in-house and external specialty pharmacies.

“Many pharmacists are not oncology-trained. But with an interest, every pharmacist can work on their supportive care role, especially in this new realm of specialty pharmacy, where those oral oncolytics are being dispensed and needing to interact well with those patients,” said Hajjar.

Since the approval of the first oral anti-cancer agent in 1989, multiple oral anti-cancer medications have given patients a less-invasive treatment option, allowing them more freedom and lifestyle options than traditional chemotherapies. Twenty years later, approximately one-quarter of the anti-cancer agents under development are oral agents. The increase in use of these treatments has a significant impact on oncology pharmacy, care delivery and patient experience.

CANCER BUZZ is an award-winning resource for cancer care professionals that delivers the latest insights into hot topics in oncology, including immunotherapy and novel treatments, oncology pharmacy, care coordination, payment models, supportive services, workforce issues, and more. Episodes of CANCER BUZZ have been downloaded more than 14,000 times across the world. 

Listeners can find this episode and the currently show catalog for free to subscribe and can be found on the ACCC website and all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Amazon Music.