[Comparison of granisetron alone and granisetron plus dexamethasone or hydroxyzine hydrochloride for the prevention of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy including cisplatin].

The comparative study among granisetron alone and granisetron combined with hydroxyzine hydrochloride or dexamethasone was undertaken for the prevention of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy including cisplatin in patients with advanced head and neck carcinomas. The results indicated that the combination antiemetic therapies were more effective than granisetron alone for acute nausea and vomiting, whereas a significant difference was not observed among these three groups in the acute adverse effects. Otherwhile, there were statistically significant improvements in the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting for patients receiving granisetron combined with the other antiemetic drugs, especially the combination antiemetic therapy with dexamethasone. These results confirm the antiemetic activity of granisetron in acute nausea and vomiting induced by cisplatin and show that it has an additive effect in combination with dexamethasone.