Drug-drug interactions in older patients with cancer: a report from the 15th Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology, Prague, Czech Republic, November 2015

Drugs taken for cancer can interact with each other, with agents taken as part of supportive care, with drugs taken for comorbid conditions (which are particularly common in the elderly patients), and with herbal supplements and complementary medicines.

We tend to focus on the narrow therapeutic window of cytotoxics, but the metabolism of tyrosine kinase inhibitors by the cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme (CYP3A4) makes some TKIs particularly prone to interference with or from other agents sharing this pathway. There is also potential for adverse pharmacokinetic interactions with new hormonal agents used in advanced prostate cancer.

Ecancermedicalscience. 2016 Jan 14*** epublish ***

Rob Stepney, Stuart M Lichtman, Romano Danesi

2 Walcot Farm Cottages, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, OX7 3HJ, UK. , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Commack, NY, USA. , Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy.

PubMed