Weekly cisplatin (30-40 mg/m²) as radiosensitizer: Is it high or moderate emetic agent?

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guideline recommends a high antiemetic prophylaxis for any dose of cisplatin. This hypothesis was tested by us in this analysis of solid tumor patients who received weekly cisplatin as a radiosensitizer in a dose range of 30-40 mg/m2.

This was a retrospective analysis of 181 solid tumor patients who received weekly cisplatin (in the dose range of 30-40 mg/m2) as a radiosensitizer between July 2015 and August 2015. The antiemetic prophylaxis schedule provided was classified as optimal (if a high antiemetic prophylaxis was provided) or suboptimal (if a nonhigh antiemetic prophylaxis was provided). The incidence of acute, delayed and breakthrough vomiting after chemotherapy was noted. SPSS version 20 was used for analysis. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the association between antiemetic schedule (suboptimal vs. optimal) and postchemotherapy emesis.

In the present study, of 181 patients, only 25 patients (13.8%) received optimal antiemetic prophylaxis while the remaining 156 (86.2%) received suboptimal prophylaxis. In the cohort of patients with suboptimal prophylaxis, dexamethasone was omitted in all patients (100%) while NK receptor antagonist was omitted in 76 patients (48.7%). The rate of vomiting was lower in patients receiving optimal prophylaxis as compared to that in patients receiving suboptimal prophylaxis (12% vs. 39.75%; P - 0.005).

Omission of dexamethasone followed by aprepitant was the main reason for suboptimal prophylaxis. High antiemetic prophylaxis in accordance with ASCO guidelines overall decreased the risk of emesis in patients receiving CTRT with weekly cisplatin in the dose range of 30-40 mg/m2.