The present study aimed to analyze the drug utilization pattern of anticancer drugs in medical oncology department of a tertiary care teaching hospital, Tamilnadu. Each prescription in the department of medical oncology was studied for the patient’s demographic details, name of the drug, dose, dosage form, frequency, duration etc during the study period. Commonly used anticancer drugs and various types of cancer were noted and the percentage of drugs prescribed from national essential drug list was assessed. The study revealed that majority of cancer cases was evident in the age groups between 55 to 65 years. Out of 214 patients, 115 were female and 99 were male patients. Breast cancer was found to be most prevalent among females followed by ovary and stomach cancer. In male, lung cancer was more common followed by stomach. The majority of drugs prescribed was alkylating agents followed by antimetabolites, plant derivatives, cytotoxic antibiotics and glucocorticoids. As a conclusion, the utilization of anticancer drugs in this hospital was found to be rational and more than 70% of drugs were prescribed from the National essential drug list. Drug utilization review should be conducted periodically to minimize the untoward effects at least to some extent.

Keywords: Drug Utilization; Cancer; Prescription.