The management of nausea and vomiting in clinical oncology

Abstract

The development of cisplatin and the use of intensive combination chemotherapy have resulted in significant therapeutic advances in medical oncology, as well as the need for intensive supportive care aimed at ameliorating enhanced toxicity. From the patient's perspective, the most prominent adverse effects of chemotherapy are nausea and vomiting. Inadequate control of these symptoms leads to physiologic debilitation and psychologic distress, sequelae that result in either the patient being medically unable to continue therapy or noncompliant. Recent antiemetic research has created a voluminous data base from which the appropriate management of many aspects of chemotherapy-induced emesis can be gleaned. Despite these advances, at least 30% of patients continue to experience some degree of acute emesis with chemotherapy, and the problems of delayed and anticipatory nausea and vomiting have just begun to be addressed. Effective management of chemotherapy-induced emesis is an important aspect of the total care of oncologic patients, improving patient compliance and enhancing the therapeutic index of chemotherapy regimens resulting in a decrease in the overall morbidity and mortality of cancer therapy.