Abstract :
Background: Nausea and vomiting is the most common adverse effect of most of the chemotherapeutic agents. Large range of antiemetics has been used since ages. Aprepitant is an NK-1 receptor antagonist which blocks the emetic effects of substance P. The present study is to determine the effectiveness of aprepitant in preventing nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy when combined with standard regimen.
Methods: In this is an institutional based single arm randomized study patients received aprepitant 125 mg per oral, dexamethasone 8mg intravenous, palonosetron 0.25 mg intravenous 30 min before chemotherapy on scheduled D1 followed by aprepitant 80 mg on Day2 and Day3.The primary end point was the proportion of patients with no emetic episodes and no rescue medication [complete response (CR)] during the 24 h after chemotherapy administration (acute period).
Results: Out of 83 patients observed males were 49 and females were 34 and with performance status 0, total of 47.56 (68%) achieved complete response in overall period. This includes 62 patients (74%) in acute period and 49 patients (59%) in delayed period.
Conclusion: Aprepitant along with palonosetron and dexamethasone effectively and significantly prevents chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting.
Keyword :
Aprepitant, nausea and vomiting, palonosetron