Generic Netupitant Plus Palonosetron and Dexamethasone for Prophylaxis of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) in Cancer Patients Receiving Highly or Moderately Emetogenic Chemotherapy: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a challenging adverse effect that is associated with deteriorating quality of life. Inhibiting neurokinin 1 and 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 receptors involved in the major emesis pathways has significantly prevented CINV and is recommended as standard treatment in international antiemetic guidelines. This retrospective study was conducted to explore the efficacy of formulated netupitant (NE; 300 mg) and palonosetron (PA; 0.50mg) tablets with dexamethasone in patients receiving high and moderate emetogenic chemotherapy. A single dose of NE, PA, and dexamethasone was given 1 hour prior to the chemotherapy for 4 days. The key end-points were to assess complete response (CR), complete protection (CP), and complete control (CC) with no emesis, no nausea, and no use of rescue medication during acute (0–24 hours) and delayed phase (24–120 hours) of CINV. This study conducted on 212 patients showed overall rates of CR, CP, and CC as 97.5, 91.1, and 92.19%, respectively, in the acute phase and 95.09, 88.06, and 87.74% in a delayed phase. These patients underwent 1,387 cycles of chemotherapy involving both high emetogenic chemotherapy and moderate emetogenic chemotherapy regimens. A decrease in the rate of CR, CP, and CC from 93.47, 76.20, and 73.90% (acute phase) to 86.95, 69.67, and 67.37% (delayed phase) with highly emetogenic chemotherapy was observed, while the combination treatment achieved 100 CR, CP, and CC in both the acute and delayed phase with the moderately emetogenic chemotherapy regimen. Our study demonstrated the promising efficacy of the triple treatment with formulated NE and PA tablets in combination with dexamethasone in preventing and managing CINV in real-world settings.