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You are mid-way through a busy but highly rewarding shift and a new prescription is brought to your attention. It is for a take home cancer drug; a name you have never seen before but you are instantly conscious that it is new, targeted, and expensive. Most pharmacists would find an unknown treatment to be overwhelming.
Pharmacists provide timely and accurate information and are among the most accessible and valued frontline healthcare providers in our communities. Already experts in a growing list of medication therapies, frontline pharmacists are increasingly involved in the dispensing, education, and support for patients using take-home cancer drugs and supportive care cancer medications.
As contemporary cancer care becomes more complex, pharmacists are tasked with staying clinically informed about rapidly emerging cancer therapies including the additional areas of therapeutic genetic and molecular testing, novel drug access pathways, treatment toxicity assessment, and drug specific monitoring and documentation requirements. Pharmacists may feel less and less familiar with new treatments yet remain professionally and legally obligated to provide safe and effective care in a busy frontline setting.
As a pharmacist, ask yourself:
- How can I be expected to remain proficient in such a specialized and fast-paced therapeutic area as oncology and hematology?
- How can I ensure my patients are safe?
- Where do I turn if I have questions or need professional guidance to help the patient in front of me?
What if you had access to an oncology pharmacist in the community. Our profession has accessible and specialized pharmacist experts in diabetes care, geriatric care, women’s health, family and travel health, and now cancer care.

Contact Extend Pharmacy
Call: 613-260-7890
Fax: 343-888-2507
Bringing Cancer Care to the Community