Granisetron and ondansetron for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting

The efficacy of granisetron and ondansetron, two serotonin antagonists, as antiemetic agents was studied and compared in the first 24 h follow, by chemotherapy administration. Sixty cancer patients took part in this randomized prospective study. The patients were categorized according to the chemotherapy which was administered. Patients in group A received combinations including the highly emetogenic agents, cisplatinum or adriamycin, patients in group B received regimens which included neither of these agents. Both serotonin antagonists were highly effective, only 9 (16%) out of 58 patients suffered from vomiting, 7 (25%) of the patients on ondansetron and 2 (7%) on granisetron. Splitting the patients into both groups supported the above results. In group A (adriamycin-cisplatinum) only 7 patients (22%) reported vomiting, 5 (33%) on ondansetron vs 2 (12%) on granisetron. In group B, only 2 patients (8%) suffered from vomiting, both patients (15%) on ondansetron while no vomiting was seen in the granisetron patients. Similar results were obtained in preventing nausea in these patients. We conclude that both serotonin antagonists are effective in preventing nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy. In all groups tested this study granisetron appeared to be superior, although, this difference failed to reach statistical significance due to the small number of patients analyzed. However, there was no difference in cost effectiveness between the regimens.