The shortage of oncology drugs and supportive care products is a clear and present danger to cancer treatment and outcomes. When there is a shortage of essential cancer-care products, chemotherapy timing can be disrupted, doses or regimes may need to be altered, and in the worst-case scenario, doses may be missed altogether.

To better understand the scope of these drug shortages, and how clinical care is impacted, a group of HOPA members launched a survey between December 2019 and July 2020. The research and analysis were published by the Journal of Clinical Oncology on May 11, 2022.


Authors: Ali McBride, PharmD; Sarah Hudson-Disalle, PharmD; Jeff Pilz, PharmD; Mark Hamm, PharmD; Brooke Boring, MPH; Larry W. Buie, PharmD; and David L. DeRemer, PharmD.

Read the "National Survey on the Effect of Oncology Drug Shortages in Clinical Practice: A Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association Survey" at JCO or download it as a pdf.

Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Late-Breaking HOPA News:Adjuvant Alectinib in Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

In April 2024, the FDA approved alectinib (Alecensa®) in patients with early-stage ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on the ALINA trial.

Pharmacist’s Application to Practice: Tislelizumab-jsgr

Kristine Pisikian, PharmD, PGY-1 Pharmacist Resident and Caroline Quinn, PharmD, BCOP, Specialty Clinical Program Director at Prime Therapeutics write about Tislelizumab-jsgr.

medical illustration of inflamation from osteoporosis

Late-Breaking HOPA News: Severe Hypocalcemia in Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease on Denosumab Therapy

Originally approved for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk for fractures, denosumab is now frequently used in the management of hypercalcemia of malignancy and to decrease skeletal-related events for certain cancer patients