NZW-Hamburg 2016
Lisa Holle, PharmD BCOP
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice
University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy
Storrs, CT
Following the 11th Annual HOPA meeting, I was invited by Klaus Meier, president of the German Society for Oncology Pharmacy (Duetsche Gesellschaft für Onkologische Pharmazie [DGOP]) and the European Society of Oncology Pharmacy (ESOP) to give a short greeting from HOPA to both DGOP and ESOP and to present my work on oral chemotherapy disposal (originally presented at the 11th Annual HOPA meeting) at the 24th NZW-Hamburg conference. NZW-Hamburg was held January 29–31, 2016, in Hamburg, Germany, and sponsored by the local Hamburg pharmacy association Apothekerkammer Hamburg, DGOP, and ESOP. Over 1,000 oncology pharmacists, physicians, and researchers from around the world at- tended the conference.
It was a terrific opportunity to introduce HOPA to a global pharmacy audience and to learn more about other oncology pharmacy organizations and oncology pharmacy practice in a variety of countries and settings. Similar to the Annual HOPA Meeting, the topics of the main conference were wide-ranging, including an overview of interactions of herbal medicines and oncology, the controversy of using generic tyrosine kinase inhibitors, an overview of the quality standards of the new ISO 9001, and updates on new drugs, cancer immunotherapy, end-of-life care, and oral chemotherapy. DGOP offers a certificate course for oncology pharmacists and NZW-Hamburg offered several certificate course sessions on aseptic work, clinical case reports, psycho-oncology, and risk management.
Two interesting joint professional organization endeavors were prominent during the conference. Empowering Pharmacists to Improve Healthcare for Oral Chemotherapy Patients: Establishment of a European Best Practice Model, also known as EPIC, is a joint project of the DGOP, ESOP, Slovene Chamber of Pharmacists, and Association of Estonian Hospital Pharmacists. The EPIC project conducted several seminars to display its work within specific case studies, drug information, dysphagia, and psychosocial aspects. Another joint initiative by DGOP and the German Cancer Society (DKG) is the oral cancer treatment project, aimed at optimizing oral chemotherapy by a safe, economical team-based approach that improves quality of life and minimizes drug-related problems.
ESOP hosted a short lecture session during the conference that included updates on the EPIC and Cytotoxic Drug Contamination in European Hospitals projects and presentations on the role of the pharmacist in hypothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) treatment, effect of disease state on the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of monoclonal antibodies like bevacizumab and cetuximab, disposal of oral chemotherapy drugs, and use of glutamine to prevent radiation-induced side effects. This session also included clinical pharmacy practice model examples from Japan, Egypt, and Croatia, which provided the audience with novel and innovative methods of oncology pharmacy practice. For example, Shinya Suzuki from Japan described the development of patient-friendly materials to manage adverse effects in the outpatient setting, which have become nationally accepted. Vesna Pvalica and colleagues presented on the recent creation of an oncology pharmacy team that spans community, hospital, and clinics to offer clinical oncology pharmacy services. Within 4 months of this service starting, the Croatian government approved payment for their services.
As with most conferences, the networking opportunities at NZW- Hamburg were just as important as the scientific information gained. I made connections with other oncology pharmacists and physicians from over 15 countries. I’ve encouraged them to come to a HOPA meeting some day and plan to keep in touch to foster international collaborations.
If you haven’t attended an international oncology pharmacy meeting, I would certainly encourage you to do so. It always is a treat to meet folks, collaborate, and gain so much from the great work being done around the globe. The next DGOP meeting will be NZW-Dresden on June 17–18, 2016, in Dresden, Germany, and the
next ESOP meeting will be ECOP3 in Dubrovnik, Croatia on May 19–21, 2016. For more information about NZW-Dresden visit http://www.nzw.de/nzw_ dresden.php and for ECOP3 visit https://ecop2016.wordpress.com/.