There is a lack of magnesium monitoring in these patients. Serum magnesium determinations should be done every 4-8 weeks in patients treated with EGFR-targeting antibodies, as it is a useful surrogate marker for both toxicity and efficacy.

IntroductionBenzodiazepines (BZDs) are mainly used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders, and are often prescribed for long durations, even though prescription guidelines recommend short-term use due to the risk of dependence, cognitive impairment, and falls and fractures. Education of general practitioners (GPs) regarding the prescription of BZDs may reduce the overuse and of these drugs.The aims of this study are to analyse the effectiveness of an intervention targeted to GPs to reduce BZD prescription and evaluate the implementation process.Methods and analysisThe healthcare centres in three regions of Spain (Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Community of Valencia) will be randomly allocated to receive a multifactorial intervention or usual care (control). GPs in the intervention group will receive a 2-hour workshop about best-practice regarding BZD prescription and BZD deprescribing, monthly feedback about their BZD prescribing practices and access to a support web page. Outcome measures for each GP are the defined daily dosage per 1000 inhabitants per day and the proportion of long-term BZD users at 12 months. Data will be collected from the electronic prescription database of the public health system, and will be subjected to intention-to-treat analysis. Implementation will be evaluated by mixed methods following the five domains of the Consolidated Framework For Implementation Research.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the Balearic Islands Ethical Committee of Clinical Research (IB3065/15), l’IDIAP Jordi Gol Ethical Committee of Clinical Research (PI 15/0148) and Valencia Primary Care Ethical Committee of Clinical Research (P16/024). The results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration number ISRCTN28272199.

The developed protocol for rapid desensitization was successful in five patients receiving rituximab. Patients could receive the full intended dose.

A pharmaceutical care programme was implemented at our hospital in early 2013. The main objectives were to analyse and describe the pharmaceutical interventions made, to calculate adherence, interventions and to evaluate patient satisfaction with the care programme. We performed a single-centre descriptive and prospective intervention in cancer patients who received oral chemotherapy as part of a clinical trial in 2013. Eighty-three patients were included. Median age was 58 years (range, 31-80) and 42 patients (50.6%) were men. We recorded 23 interventions, 13 of which were associated with drug interactions. The mean percentage of adherence was 98.9%. The interview with the pharmacist was considered to be very important by 84.6% of the respondents. A total of 92.3% said that they would like to speak to the pharmacist at subsequent visits. The doubts detected during the visits enable us to conclude that the information patients receive with respect to their study medication is usually incomplete. An integrated pharmaceutical care programme for cancer patients participating in clinical trials with oral cytostatic drugs was successful in terms of adherence and patient satisfaction and makes it possible to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of treatment on an individual basis.

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