General status of ambulatory cancer chemotherapy

Abstract

Recently, ambulatory chemotherapy for cancer patients has become possible in Japan due to the cumulative experiences of cancer chemotherapy over many years, the development of the management of anticancer drug adverse effects and the now-accepted custom of telling the true diagnosis to cancer patients. The shift of cancer chemotherapy from the inpatient to the outpatient setting is generally welcomed because ambulatory chemotherapy improves the quality of life of many cancer patients, and reduces the medical costs for the Japanese government Osaka University Hospital has been expanding its ambulatory chemotherapy center, and now has 19 beds and a total of 6,500 patients who are given cancer chemotherapy each year. In the ambulatory chemotherapy center, we need to treat as many cancer patients as require it without compromising the safety and comfort of the service. Therefore, it is important to scientifically analyze, and set an upper limit to the number of patients to be treated, while continuously trying to improve the capacity of the facility. The ambulatory chemotherapy center of our hospital also provides a clinical oncology education program 'Gan' (Cancer) Professional Plan, which is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. The number of clinical oncologists is expected to increase in Japan. © 2011 The Japan Lung Cancer Society.