Adding rolapitant improves prevention of chemo-induced nausea, vomiting

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Rolapitant in combination with a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist and dexamethasone is well-tolerated and demonstrates superiority over active control for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) during the at-risk period following the administration of highly emetogenic cisplatin-based chemotherapy, a new study published online ahead of print in The Lancet Oncology has shown.

Two double-blind, active-controlled, phase 3 trials were conducted to assess rolapitant, a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, for the prevention of CINV in patients with cancer in the 120 hours after administration of cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either oral rolapitant 180 mg or placebo 1 to 2 hours before cisplatin in conjunction with granisetron and dexamethasone. Results showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients in the rolapitant arms achieved completes responses during the delayed phase than did patients who received placebo.

In regard to safety, no serious treatment-emergent adverse events were related to rolapitant treatment.

The findings suggest that adding rolapitant to granisetron and dexamethasone is superior to granisetron and dexamethasone alone for the prevention of CINV during the delayed phase after receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy.