The Development of a Software System for Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy Treatment: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Until recently, anti-cancer clinics in order to plan and schedule chemotherapy treatments applied time-consuming methods, characterized by a high risk of error occurrence. Considering all the barriers that make chemotherapy treatment and demanding procedure, to evaluate if a chemotherapy management program could improve the administration of chemotherapy treatments. The authors developed “Carci”, a software tool designed to support anti-cancer clinics. The particular software program aims to provide an improved administration system for injectable anticancer agents and eliminate medication errors that could yield fatal events. The recording of patients’ data, the selection of the appropriate treatment protocol, the calculations of drug dosages, the correct preparation and administration of injectable solutions and the updating of secretariat, were conducted both manually and by using the computerized method. These two methods were compared and contrasted. The use of “Carci” resulted in a decrease in the time required to calculate patients’ Body Surface Area (BSA) and in a decrease in the occurrence of errors concerning the dosage of medication administered. A total of 18 patients with breast cancer were assigned to this pilot study. Significant differences were observed in BSA values (p=0.0391) and dosage (p=0.0042) between the computerized method “Carci” and manually by the doctor. Although this has been a pilot study, further evaluation of this software program in a larger sample of patients is required. Preliminary data, however, suggests that “Carci” can minimize the risk for error occurrence making chemotherapy treatment faster, easier and more accurate.