Abstract
Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are most common among cancer patients receiving treatment. AC therapy which is a combination protocol of Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cyclophosphamide are the common therapies used for breast cancer treatment due to their effectiveness and cost of therapy breast cancer. AC combination is administered every 3 weeks, and 4 cycles are given.
 Objectives: To assess various ADRs reported by patients on AC combination therapy and their severity to ensure safe and effective treatment.
 Design: Prospective observational.
 Setting: Cancer hospital Jamshoro Pakistan.
 Patients and Methods: A hospital based observational study included 160 female patients suffering from breast cancer and receiving AC combination for treatment by purposive sampling method from June 2015- January 2018 at cancer hospital Jamshoro Pakistan. ADRs reported were compared against international standard references of drug literature such as British National Formulary (BNF) 2017 and ADR severity assessment scale (Modified Hartwig and Siegel scale).
 Main Outcome Measures: Frequency and severity of ADRs.
 Results: The common ADRs reported were, nausea and vomiting, acidity, fatigue, hair fall as common non-hematologic and leukopenia among hematologic ADRs. Those patients reported high severity ADRs according to severity scale persist for longer duration and required antidote for management with medical intervention.
 Conclusion: The present study shows that a patient’s response towards AC therapy is critical and therefore each patient must be monitored and those at high risk of developing ADRs from this therapy must be provided additional care.
Highlights
Breast cancer most frequently arises in females including developed and developing countries and accounts for up to 23% of the malignancies affecting females even in developed countries
AC patients responded in a different manner towards the therapy in terms of Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and the majority showed multiple ADRs at a different level of severity
The ADRs reported were confirmed through the British National formulary
Summary
Breast cancer most frequently arises in females including developed and developing countries and accounts for up to 23% of the malignancies affecting females even in developed countries. Breast cancer is a tumor that occurs in the cells of the breast and usually is malignant in nature means that has the capability to invade surrounding tissues and to spread into the other body parts or organs. It is a disease of female origin, but male is at risk of developing such condition. There are many risk factors that lead to the development of breast cancer but their role in development is not fully understood yet These include age, family history, late menopause, first child at the older age, etc. Jamali et al.; JPRI, 33(26A): 8-13, 2021; Article no.JPRI.67219
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