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Chapter 77
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2770-3.ch077
Kevin Yi-Lwern Yap
Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG, University of Warwick, UK
The Evolving Role of
Pharmacoinformatics in
Targeting Drug-Related
Problems in Clinical
Oncology Practice
ABSTRACT
The rapid growth of the internet and the World Wide Web has led to the development of pharmacoinformat-
ics technologies to assist oncology healthcare professionals in delivering optimum pharmaceutical care
and health-related outcomes. The proliferation of online health information has also empowered patients
with cancer with the knowledge to better participate in the management of their own condition. This
chapter introduces the evolving roles of pharmacoinformatics in oncology and discusses some problems
that have arisen due to these technologies. Various pharmacoinformatics channels for practitioners and
patients are described together with drug interaction parameters that are clinically relevant to oncology
clinicians. Additionally, this chapter addresses certain quality issues associated with online anticancer
drug interactions and proposes several design principles for developers of pharmacoinformatics tools.
Finally, readers will be given an insight as to how pharmacoinformatics can be harnessed for the future
improvement of pharmaceutical care in patients with chronic diseases such as cancer.