The control of chemotherapy-induced emesis

Abstract

Nausea and vomiting are frequent and serious toxicities of cancer chemotherapy that have been largely ignored in the past. Recently there has been renewed interest in this significant problem, with important advances in understanding the physiology of vomiting and a burgeoning number of clinical trials that use newer classes of antiemetics. At present phenothiazines are the only class of antiemetics that have shown both efficacy and safety in large numbers of cancer patients, but they are inadequate against strongly emetic agents such as cisplatin. New agents and new approaches have shown promise but need additional testing before they can be recommended for routine use.