Palonosetron prevents CINV and boosts food intake in highly-emetogenic chemo patients, study finds

A new, innovative study shows that a single dose of Swiss drugmaker Helsinn's palonosetron plus dexamethasone not only prevents  chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, but allows adequate caloric  intake in cancer patients.

Data presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Symposium on  Cancer and Nutrition in Zurich, Switzerland, show that the  second-generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonist warrants adequate caloric  intake in patients receiving highly-emetogenic chemotherapy.

The result comes from an innovative Italian study led by Vito Lorusso.  The findings confirmed the efficacy of a single dose of palonosetron and  dexamethasone to control CINV episodes in patients treated with HEC  (cisplatin and/or epirubicin and/or iphosphamide) for soft tissue  sarcoma: 76% of the patients achieved complete response (no vomiting, no  use of rescue medication), 74% complete control (complete response and  no more than mild nausea), in the seven-day period following  chemotherapy, after palonosetron treatment. Moreover, the results  demonstrated that patients with no vomiting and without nausea had a  median daily food intake of 1,500Kcal and 1,600Kcal in the acute and  delayed period, respectively, which is an adequate caloric consumption.