According to the report, published in the online issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, the online and hard-copy resource used by oncologists and pharmacists, known as the compendia, does not always contain clear or updated information on using medications for "off-label" purposes, such as treating diseases other than those approved by the U.S. Doctors and pharmacists often rely on the compendia for off-label dosage information, making it an authoritative source, in some instances, when a question arises about whether insurance will cover a drug for off-label use. But the researchers found a lack of systematic methods to ensure the compendia information is regularly revie or updated. Doctors' Guide to Cancer Drugs May Need Revising -- Doctors may not always have complete or clear information when they prescribe cancer medications for uses beyond what the drugs have been approved for, a new study finds. "Oncologists and pharmacists use the compendia to guide choice of drugs for cancer patients that are not FDA-approved for use in that patient's disease -- an example would be bevacizumab, or Avastin, for brain cancer," the study's lead investigator, Dr.

Amy Abernethy, an oncologist at Duke University, said in a news release issued by the school.