Patient-included multi-disciplinary team approach in the outpatient chemotherapy

To reassure safety and comfort in providing cancer chemotherapy on outpatient basis, patients and medical staff must form a team to manage the treatment together. Many patients tend to receive treatment rather passively in Japan until now, thus intervention is necessary for such patients to undergo the treatments with better understanding of the possible treatment side effects as well as the ways to deal with them. As for the risk management and/or symptom management, it is important to encourage patients to improve their ability for self care and to heighten their awareness that they can indeed take part in their own management. Also, when specialist intervention is required, consultation must be sought immediately so that the problem can be resolved promptly. It is important for the patient and the medical staff to share the same goal to provide safe and comfortable treatment, and for the member of the team fulfilling their respective specialist roles toward that goal.