title: Dose finding study of granisetron in patients receiving high-dose cisplatin chemotherapy. The Granisetron Study Group.
abstract: The efficacy and safety of three different doses of granisetron (2 micrograms kg-1, group A; 10 micrograms kg-1, group B; 40 micrograms kg-1, group C) were compared in a randomised, double-blind study of 157 patients due to receive high-dose cisplatin therapy (mean dose > 97 mg m-2). In each group, up to two 3 mg rescue doses of granisetron were allowed if more than mild nausea or vomiting occurred. In group A 30.8%, in group B 61.5% and in group C 67.9% of patients were complete responders (i.e. no vomiting or nothing worse than mild nausea) during the first 24 h. These differences are significant between groups A and B, and A and C. There were no statistically significant differences in any efficacy variable between the 10 micrograms kg-1 and 40 micrograms kg-1 groups, although in each case the trend favoured the higher dose. Additional rescue doses resulted in resolved or improved symptoms in 95.3% for the first rescue dose and 93.3% for the second. Over the 7 days of the study, 82.7%, 82.7% and 86.8% of patients in groups A, B and C respectively were treated with granisetron alone. Headache was the most common side-effect, reported by 9.6% of patients; the majority of headaches were mild. There was no difference between the treatment groups regarding the adverse event rate. We concluded that prophylactic doses of 10 or 40 micrograms kg-1 lead to a safe and satisfactory degree of control of nausea and vomiting induced by high-dose cisplatin.
authors.affiliation: Centre Francois Baclesse, Caen, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riviere
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D017829:Granisetron / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000517:prevention & control; D014839:Vomiting / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D002945:Cisplatin; D017829:Granisetron