Progress in chemoradiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Compared with the large evidence base assessing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, few studies have examined prophylaxis for radiation-induced nausea and vomiting, especially when delivered in combination with chemotherapy. Yet, concurrent delivery of antineoplastic drugs with fractionated external beam radiation is a mainstay of gynaecological cancer and is a standard of care for several other disease states. Efficacy and safety of fosaprepitant for the prevention of nausea and emesis during 5 weeks of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer (the GAND-emesis study): a multinational, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 3 trialTo our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate safety and efficacy of a NK-1 receptor antagonist during 5 weeks of radiotherapy and concomitant weekly cisplatin. Patients receiving fosaprepitant in addition to palonosetron and dexamethasone were less likely to experience emesis and nausea compared with those receiving palonosetron and dexamethasone alone. Both treatments were safe and well tolerated. Further investigations in other radiotherapy settings are warranted. Full-Text PDF