Study Published in Clinical Oncology Journal!

Dr Annabel Borley and Dr Sophie Harding have had their research on the Phesgo project published in the ‘Clinical Oncology’ journal.

The article, titled ‘Switching to a Fixed-dose Combined Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab With Recombinant Human Hyaluronidase Subcutaneous Injection to Treat Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-positive Breast Cancer in Real-world UK Clinical Practice’, is based on a piece of work undertaken during the COVID pandemic that released SACT and pharmacy capacity, reduced length of patient hospital visits (reduced risk of acquiring COVID during the visit) and improved patient experience.

The study in a nutshell…

Background:
For patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a common treatment involves two drugs: trastuzumab and pertuzumab, both given through an IV (intravenous drip). This method is effective, but it takes a lot of time and can be uncomfortable for patients.

New Development:
In 2020, a new version of these drugs was created that combines both into a single injection given under the skin (subcutaneous or SC). This injection only takes 5–8 minutes, compared to the longer IV infusion.

Velindre wanted to switch all their patients from IV infusions to the quicker SC injection and make sure future patients also start with this method.

Results:

99% of patients (97 out of 98) were successfully switched to the new SC injection within just four weeks.
From April 2021 to September 2022, the hospital saved:
- 3,062 hours of pharmacy preparation time.
- 6,764 hours of time patients spent sitting in hospital chairs for treatment.
The hospital also reduced the number of days when their pharmacy was overloaded with work.

This new approach improved the patient experience and helped the hospital run more efficiently."