Standardized supportive care documentation improves safety of high-dose methotrexate treatment.

CONCLUSION: The use of standardized documentation for supportive care during HD-MTX therapy is recommended to minimize the risk of adverse events. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is a commonly used treatment in several cancer types. Distinct supportive measures are necessary to minimize the risk of HD-MTX side effects, which can be life-threatening. Supportive care consists of certain examinations and interventions prior to starting HD-MTX and permament alkalinization of the urine, as this greatly increases the elimination of MTX and decreases the risk of kidney injury. Here we report on our findings after implementing a checklist for control of supportive care and a urine alkalinization protocol to optimize urine alkalinization. We observed a significant decrease of side effects by using these supportive care tools in comparison to the standard of care. Therefore we recommend to use a safety checklist and alkalinization protocol in all patients who receive HD-MTX. PMID: 33215763 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The Oncologist - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Oncologist Source Type: research