Alexandre Chan, President and Board Member of The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), shared on LinkedIn:
“Belated Happy World Pharmacists Day!
Yesterday I had the privilege of delivering Grand Rounds at City of Hope Irvine, where I shared a series of research studies that my team conducted on chemobrain.
During the Q&A, an audience member asked a very thoughtful question: why does it matter to understand the mechanism when we are looking for the right treatment modality for cancer survivors with chemobrain?
The question took me back to my roots. My training as a pharmacist has always taught me the value of precision pharmacotherapy: providing the right treatment to the right mechanism in the right patient. The same principle applies to the difficult complications our cancer survivors face. When we decide which modalities to use for our survivors, the underlying mechanisms really matter.
This conversation reminded me that our pharmacy training gives us a toolbox that works well beyond our traditional pharmacy roles. Thinking in terms of mechanisms, weighing evidence, and tailoring decisions to the individual patient are skills we use every day, and they carry over to many settings: the clinic, the research lab, the policy table, and leadership roles.
On World Pharmacists Day, I’m grateful for a profession that trains us to think this way.
Many thanks to Dr. Richard T. Lee for the warm hospitality and for the excellent conversations on integrative and supportive oncology research.”
Other posts featuring Alexandre Chan on OncoDaily.
