the use of orally administered antineoplastic
agents continues to rise and is likely to increase
in the coming years with the development and
approval of new oral formulations to fight cancer.
As research identifies new “targets,” the
subsequent development of new agents to affect those targets
(Table 1) is changing the approach to treating various
malignancies. Patients diagnosed with cancer today have
five-year survival rates, and these rates continue to increase
over time. In some cases, cancer is becoming a chronic disease,
where traditional chemotherapy is combined with
newer therapies over prolonged periods of time. At the
same time, oral agents introduce challenges for providers
and patients.