THE EFFICACY OF PALONOSETRON HYDROCHLORIDE IN PREVENTING NAUSEA AND VOMITING INDUCED BY CISPLATIN-BASED CHEMOTHERAPY

Objective To investigate the efficacy and adverse effects of palonosetron hydrochloride in the prevention of nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapeutics. Methods This study consisted of 120 cancer patients indicated for chemotherapy,who were mainly treated with cisplatin.The patients were evenly randomized to experiment group: intravenous palonosetron 0.25 mg given 30 min before the therapy,lasting for over 30 s,and control group: intravenous dripping of tropisetron hydrochloride,5 mg,was given 30 min before the therapy,lasting for over 15 min.The efficacy of the antiemetics was evaluated from day 1 to day 5 after treatment. Results The effective rates in acute stage,lag period and whole period in experiment group were 92.36%,85.02% and 80.91%,and that in control group were 87.08%,67.25% and 62.17%,respectively.The differences between the two groups were significant(χ2=55.34,58.22;P0.05).The improvement rates of nausea on day 2,3 and 4 were90.27%,78.51% and 89.62% for experiment group verses 70.05%,61.13% and 70.83% for the control,respectively,the differences being significant between the two groups(χ2=56.25-59.33,P0.05).As for adverse effects,no statistical difference was noted(P0.05). Conclusion Palonosetron hydrochloride is better than tropisetron hydrochlorid for preventing nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.