Antiemetic therapy in patients treated with high-dose cytosine arabinoside

The antiemetic efficacy of metoclopramide (MCP) was evaluated in 33 consecutive patients treated with high-dose cytosine arabinoside (HiDAC), greater than or equal to 3 g/m2, a highly emetogenic agent increasingly used in patients with hematologic malignancies for which no previous formal antiemetic trials have been reported. Administration of MCP in conjunction with prophylactic diphenhydramine resulted in major antiemetic responses (0-2 episodes of emesis in the 24 h after therapy) in 23 of 33 (70%) patients. The addition of lorazepam (LZP) to MCP resulted in major antiemetic response in 7 or 8 (88%) patients who failed to respond to MCP alone. Major side effects were extrapyramidal reactions (5%) and moderate diarrhea (18%). MCP alone or in conjunction with LZP is effective antiemetic therapy in patients treated with HiDAC.