[The control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting]

A growing interest has been shown in antiemetics with important advances in understanding the physiology of vomiting and the development of new anticancer agents having high emetic potential such as cisplatin. At present, high-dose metoclopramide, dexamethasone and butyrophenones have shown effective antiemetic action. In addition, antiemetic drug combinations that affect more than one neurotransmitter receptor have achieved improved emesis control. While improvements have been made in acute chemotherapy-induced emesis, anticipatory and delayed emesis is still a difficult problem. Further studies under well-designed trials are necessary to establish which of the available agents, doses, routes of administration, and schedules are best for reducing emesis depending on the chemotherapeutic drugs used.