New Safety Standards for Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a life-saving medical option for many people diagnosed with cancer. Even so, it can cause very serious, even life-threatening side effects. For this reason, it's important that clear standards be followed for how chemotherapy is given and how the health of people receiving it is monitored before, during, and after chemotherapy.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Oncology Nursing Society have come together to produce the Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards. This is a very important step forward in creating the safest possible treatments for cancer.

The final list includes 31 safety standards and covers important aspects of giving chemotherapy including:

• Careful review of each patient's clinical (medical) information
• Selection of the treatment option
• Treatment planning
• Informed consent from the patient; informed consent is the formal way of making sure that each patient understands and accepts the risks and benefits of the treatment options and agrees with the treatment plan
• How the treatment is ordered, for example, whether this is done electronically or with a written prescription
• How the chemotherapy medication is prepared; usually, this refers to how it is prepared in the pharmacy
• Assessment, or keeping track of, how well the treatment plan is being followed (compliance); this means making sure medications are given as planned, and on the part of the patient, that medications are taken as prescribed
• Administration and monitoring; this refers to what actually happens in the clinic each time chemotherapy is given
• Assessment of response, which means tracking how well the patient is doing after chemotherapy is given and making sure the cancer itself is responding as expected
• Toxicity monitoring, which means tracking all of the negative side effects of treatment, such as low blood counts, nausea, or fatigue.

This may not seem like such a big deal or maybe feels like a "mere formality". However, these guidelines are much more important than many people realize. Most of the cancer care in the United States, roughly 80%, is given in small community oncology clinics. Because of this, there can be a lot of variation in the safety standards around how chemotherapy is given.

By creating a standardized set of safety guidelines that are available to every oncologist in the country, The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Oncology Nursing Society have taken a positive step toward making sure every single person treated for cancer is treated as safely as possible.

If you're interested, you can see a full set of the guidelines, for yourself. You can even print them out and take them to your next appointment. If you have questions about the guidelines and what they mean for you, your doctor can get you the information you need to make informed choices about your cancer care.