It is an injection given just under the skin. Some women with breast cancer need to be treated with denosumab if the cancer has spread to their bones.
Self-administration of injections under the skin is common for many other treatments including DVT or diabetes.
Pharmacist Pinkie Chambers, who has developed the pilot with Rebecca Roylance, UCLH consultant medical oncologist, said: “Currently some patients can wait for hours in hospital for this simple injection. Our pilot project allows women to self-administer denosumab if they wish and we appreciate that some may choose not to. The new pilot will, above all else, save patients and carers waiting time in hospital. In addition, this new model may demonstrate savings to commissioners.”
Two UCLH patients have been recruited to start the pilot and we hope to recruit around 20 more.
If successful, we will propose an alternative commissioning pathway for denosumab for north London that can potentially be replicated across the country.
https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/OurServices/ServiceA-Z/Cancer/Pages/Cancerblogsandupdates.aspx#BC