New drug cuts chemotherapy nausea and vomiting by half

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 17 Oct 2003 - 0:00 PDT

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Nausea and vomiting can be reduced by nearly 50% when the drug aprepitant is given with other antiemetics to patients receiving chemotherapy, according to a two new studies.

The first study, conducted by American researchers and published online this week ahead of print publication by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, analysed 520 patients with respiratory cancers, only 26% of those who received aprepitant along with ondansetron and dexamethasone, the standard antiemetic treatment, reported nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy.

Nearly half (48%) of patients who took a placebo with the standard drugs reported nausea and vomiting.

A separate 164-person phase II study conducted in the Netherlands found that after six cycles of the cytotoxic drug cisplatin, 59% of subjects who received aprepitant plus standard treatment did not experience symptoms, versus 34% who received the placebo plus standard therapy.

Aprepitant is the first in a new class of drugs that interfere with nausea and vomiting by blocking NK1 receptors in the brain.

The authors of the US-based study sayit is 'really is the first substantial advance that we've had in the prevention of nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy in almost a decade.'

References:

de Wit R et al (2003) Addition of the Oral NK1 Antagonist Aprepitant to Standard Antiemetics Provides Protection Against Nausea and Vomiting During Multiple Cycles of Cisplatin-Based Chemotherapy Journal of Clinical Oncology published online ahead of print Oct 14 2003 10.1200/JCO.2003.10.128

Hesketh P et al (2003) The Oral Neurokinin-1 Antagonist Aprepitant for the Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: A Multinational, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Patients Receiving High-Dose Cisplatin--The Aprepitant Protocol 052 Study Group Journal of Clinical Oncology Early Release, published online ahead of print Oct 14 2003 10.1200/JCO.2003.01.095

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