News Releases & Research Results New antiemetic therapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting; better study results than standard antiemetic therapy

The results of collaborative research led by group of the Shizuoka Cancer Center, the National Cancer Center Hospital, and 30 facilities in Japan.

•  The medical doctor /pharmacist-initiated, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study revealed the usefulness of a new antiemetic therapy to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
• Although an antipsychotic (olanzapine) has been noted to be effective in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, it is not widely used because adverse reactions such as drowsiness and light-headed feeling often occur.  However, reduction and time adjustment of olanzapine dosing was found to have a highly persistent effect in suppressing nausea and vomiting while reducing adverse reactions.
• The rate of complete response as the primary endpoint in a research on nausea and vomiting, was improved by 13% in the delayed phase (2 to 5 days after the start of anti-cancer drugs) required to show improvement.
• The results could allow a new standard antiemetic therapy to be adopted internationally.

This project was conducted with the support of Practical Research for Innovative Cancer Control by AMED.

The results of research were published in The Lancet Oncology, an international medical journal, on December 11.

Hashimoto Ｈ, et al. Olanzapine 5 mg in combination with standard antiemetic therapy for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy (J-FORCE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial　The Lancet Oncology

DOI：10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30678-3