Anew study raises an alarm over polypharmacy, an issue that is not new but may become more worrisome because of an aging population and a myriad of new drugs coming to market, including cancer drugs. The study appears in Cancer (doi:10.1002/cncr.34642).

Corresponding author Erika Ramsdale, MD, MS, geriatric oncologist and associate professor of hematology/oncology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, warns that although there is some evidence that cancer treatment outcomes may be affected by taking multiple medications and/or potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), “the research is still very sparse.”

Dr Ramsdale says that the main goal of this new study was to examine the associations between polypharmacy, PIMs, and potential drug–drug interactions (PDIs) and adverse cancer treatment outcomes in a large national cohort of older adults with advanced cancer. The authors note that polypharmacy and PIMs have suspected roles in many adverse events in older patients with cancer, including toxicities, but cause and effect links have been unclear.

Although no universal standard exists, the researchers defined polypharmacy as five or more medications and excessive polypharmacy as 10 or more medications for the purpose of the study.

一项新的研究对多重用药敲响了警钟，这个问题并不新鲜，但由于人口老龄化和包括抗癌药物在内的无数新药上市，可能会变得更加令人担忧。该研究发表在《癌症》杂志上(doi:10.1002/cncr.34642)。

通讯作者埃里卡·拉姆斯代尔 (Erika Ramsdale) 博士警告说，尽管有一些证据表明，癌症治疗结果可能会因服用药物而受到影响。多种药物和/或可能不适当的药物 (PIM)，“研究仍然非常稀疏。”

Ramsdale 博士表示，这项新研究的主要目标是在全国大型晚期癌症老年人队列中研究复方用药、PIM 以及潜在的药物相互作用 (PDI) 与不良癌症治疗结果之间的关联。作者指出，多药治疗和 PIM 可能在老年癌症患者的许多不良事件中发挥作用，包括毒性，但因果关系尚不清楚。

尽管不存在通用标准，但出于研究目的，研究人员将多重用药定义为五种或以上药物，而过​​度多重用药定义为十种或以上药物。