Prevention of acute emesis in cancer patients following high-dose cisplatin with the combination of oral dolasetron and dexamethasone.

PURPOSEDolasetron is a 5-HT3 antagonist antiemetic with active oral and intravenous formulations. The effects of this class are enhanced when combined with dexamethasone. This study tested the ability of the combination of oral dolasetron 200 mg and oral dexamethasone 20 mg to prevent acute emesis in cancer patients receiving initial cisplatin at doses > or = 70 mg/m2. Additionally, patients were randomly assigned to receive a second dosage of the regimen 16 hours later to improve control of acute symptoms.PATIENTS AND METHODSA total of 75 patients were entered, with 38 randomized to the two-dose regimen. Thirty-five percent were women and 77% had lung cancer.RESULTSOverall, the regimen prevented acute vomiting in 76% (95% confidence interval, 65% to 85%), including 74% of 35 patients who received cisplatin at doses > or = 100 mg/m2. There was no observed difference in emesis prevention between the one-dose (76%) and two-dose (76%) regimens (95% confidence interval for the difference, -20% to 19%). The me...