The era of oral drugs in oncology: What do patients think about their efectiveness?

Abstract

e20600 Background: With the growing number of drugs available for the treatment of cancer, most of them of oral administration, some aspects of the everyday clinical practice are changing. Interesting is the opinion of the patients (pts) about oral therapy. Methods: We researched differences in preference, tolerance, effectiveness, and safety by means of the delivery of a survey to (pts) who had received oral and intravenous (IV) treatment. One hundred and ninety (pts) were enrolled from September to November 2008. Results: Seventy percent of the (pts) studied were women, the median age at diagnosis was 60 years (range, 28 - 91 years). Fifty percent had gynaecologic tumors; thirty percent digestive; eighteen percent lung cancer and two percent other tumors, with a median of 3 different lines of therapy (range, 1 to 9). Patients preferred the oral route over the IV (76% vs. 20% respectively; P<0.001) and four percent had no preference. Tolerance was better with oral therapy (64%) than with (IV) chemotherapy (CT) (36%; P<0.001). When the (pts) were asked for effectiveness, sixty percent of them considered the (IV) chemotherapy more effective, while eleven percent chose oral therapy and twenty-nine percent found both equally effective (p<0.001). Sixty one percent of the (pts) evaluated as more secure (IV) chemotherapy, while eight percent did so with oral therapy and thirty one percent did not think that differences existed with one or another route of administration (p< 0.001). Conclusions: The constant evolution in cancer therapy and the increasing participation of (pts) in therapeutic decisions makes it imperative to know the opinion of (pts) on these new treatments. When patients are asked for tolerance or preference, the majority of them choose the oral route. However, when asked about important issues such as effectiveness or safety that offers a treatment, most of them prefer the intravenous route. No significant financial relationships to disclose.