Interventions to support adherence to oral anticancer therapies: research challenges, lessons learned, and strategies to overcome them from Australia and Switzerland

Carole Bandiera; Xiomara Skrabal Ross; Evelina Cardoso; Dorothea Wagner; Chantal Csajka; Ian Olver; Pandora Patterson; Vijayaprakash Suppiah; Kate M Gunn; Marie Schneider

doi:10.1007/s00520-021-06710-y

Interventions to support adherence to oral anticancer therapies: research challenges, lessons learned, and strategies to overcome them from Australia and Switzerland

Support Care Cancer. 2022 May;30(5):3655-3659. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06710-y. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Authors

Carole Bandiera^{1

2

3}, Xiomara Skrabal Ross^{4

5

6}, Evelina Cardoso⁷, Dorothea Wagner⁸, Chantal Csajka^{9

10

7}, Ian Olver¹¹, Pandora Patterson^{6

12}, Vijayaprakash Suppiah^{13

14}, Kate M Gunn¹⁵, Marie Schneider^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland. Carole.Bandiera@unisante.ch.
² Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Carole.Bandiera@unisante.ch.
³ Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Carole.Bandiera@unisante.ch.
⁴ Cancer Research Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
⁵ Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
⁶ Canteen Australia, Research, Evaluation and Social Policy Unit, GPO Box 3821, Sydney, New South Wales, 2001, Australia.
⁷ Center for Research and Innovation in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁹ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, Rue Michel Servet 1, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹¹ School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
¹² Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
¹⁴ Australian Centre for Precision Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Rural Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

PMID: 34993650
DOI: 10.1007/s00520-021-06710-y

Abstract

Not monitoring adherence to oral anticancer therapies (OAT) can lead to poor clinical outcomes, including premature death as reported by Foulon et al. (Acta Clin Belg 66(2):85-96, 2011) and Greer et al. (Oncologist 21(3):354-76, 2016). Barriers to the implementation of supportive cancer care interventions in medication adherence occur with multiple hospital sites, cancer diagnoses, and numerous healthcare professionals. This commentary describes challenges and strategies from two OAT adherence trials in Australia and Switzerland to assist researchers in the design and implementation of future interprofessional trials.

Keywords: Clinical trials; Implementation science; Medication adherence; Neoplasms; Oral anticancer therapies, Antineoplastic agents; Patient selection.

MeSH terms

Administration, Oral
Australia
Health Personnel
Humans
Medication Adherence*
Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Switzerland

Grants and funding

HSR-4077-11-2016/Swiss Cancer Research foundation