At-home chemotherapy infusion for patients with advanced cancer in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article reviews the development of home-based chemotherapy for patients with advanced cancer in Hong Kong, highlighting the evolution of chemotherapy infusion devices, practice, and service provision over the past decades. Further, we provide directions regarding service provision, practice, and training. At-home delivery of chemotherapy infusions has been used in the treatment of advanced colorectal and pancreatic cancers. It received positive feedback from patients and had a positive impact on the healthcare system. The model for at-home chemotherapy infusion could be further promoted and developed in patients with advanced cancer through several means. These could include exploring the feasibility of more ambulatory home chemotherapy treatment; developing protocols and selection criteria to guide who should be treated where, how to manage drug toxicity and the expected side-effects, and assessment of the self-care capabilities of patient and family; and establishing logistics through multidisciplinary collaboration, chemotherapy nursing clinics, and development of expertise to more efficiently provide resources and staffing to support at-home chemotherapy infusion. Recognising these challenges, in the future, it would be helpful to identify new and more advanced practice foci and training initiatives to meet the increased needs of the rising service load and the population's need for ongoing access to chemotherapy service.