Optimal control of acute cisplatin-induced emesis

A survey by Coates and co-workers in 1983 revealed that patients ranked nausea and vomiting as the most distressing side effects of chemotherapy. In the last decade the use of high-dose metoclopramide and, especially, the introduction of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, have been major leaps forward in the control of chemotherapy-induced emesis. Nevertheless, since patients still consider nausea and vomiting to be the most distressing side effect of their chemotherapy there is clearly a need for further improvements. Acute emesis, which is the topic of this review, can now be controlled in the majority of patients during their first course of chemotherapy. Future focus should be on better control of emesis during subsequent courses of chemotherapy as well as on better control of delayed emesis.