What was studied? We wanted to see whether having pharmacists closely involved in cancer care improves medication safety and reduces severe side effects for patients with gynecologic cancers (like ovarian or uterine cancer) during chemotherapy.

How was the study done?

Who participated? Patients receiving chemotherapy at Peking University First Hospital's Gynecologic Oncology Ward (September 2022-September 2024).

Two groups compared:

Standard care group: Pharmacists provided routine pharmaceutical services.

Full pharmacy care group: Pharmacists provided ongoing support, including:

Checking medications for safety.

Teaching patients how to manage side effects.

Answering questions about drugs.

Helping manage reactions like nausea or low white blood cells.

What was measured? Severe side effects (e.g., extreme nausea, appetite loss), how well doctors prescribed and monitored medications to boost white blood cells, and unplanned hospital stays.

Key findings:

Patients with full pharmacy care had:

Fewer severe side effects: Less extreme nausea, appetite loss, and dangerously low white blood cell counts.

Better management of blood cell-boosting medications: Doctors followed guidelines more closely, and patients received proper monitoring.

Fewer unplanned hospital visits: Likely due to better side effect prevention and early intervention.

Why does this matter?

For patients: Pharmacist support during chemotherapy may help you avoid severe side effects and reduce unexpected hospital stays.

For families: Knowing pharmacists are actively involved can provide reassurance about your loved one's medication safety.

For healthcare teams: Structured pharmacist collaboration improves adherence to treatment guidelines and patient outcomes.

Takeaway:

Full pharmacy care throughout chemotherapy helps protect patients' safety, reduces severe reactions, and supports smoother treatment journeys.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients diagnosed with gynaecologic malignancies such as ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, or gestational trophoblastic tumours.
• Patients who received one of the following chemotherapy regimens: taxane monotherapy or combination therapy, anthracycline monotherapy or combination therapy, platinum-based monotherapy or combination therapy. These chemotherapy regimens could be combined with targeted therapy or immunotherapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients treated with chemotherapy regimens outside those specified in the inclusion criteria.
• Patients who received only targeted therapy, immunotherapy, endocrine therapy, bone-modifying therapy, or combinations of these treatments.

Ovarian cancer is a disease that occurs exclusively in individuals of the female biological sex (i.e., those who have ovaries). Therefore, eligibility to participate in research is typically based on **biological sex**, rather than **gender identity**. This means that even if a person's gender identity is not female (such as transgender men or non-binary individuals), they are still eligible to participate in ovarian cancer research as long as they have ovaries.

Patients with gynaecological tumours receiving chemotherapy at our hospital

Hospital patient data needs to be kept confidential