Source: DGNews | Posted 9 years ago
Once-daily Kytril (Granisetron) Most Effective for Nausea in Abdominal Radiation Therapy
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By Emma Hitt
Special to DG News
NEW ORLEANS, LA -- October 9, 2002 -- A once-daily dose of granisetron hydrochloride (Kytril) appears to be more effective than a twice-daily split dose for controlling nausea in patients undergoing abdomino-pelvic radiation.
Linda Lewis, an oncology nurse with the William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, United States, presented the finding here October 8 at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 44th Annual Meeting.
According to Lewis and colleagues, large radiation fields used over the abdomino-pelvic area can cause nausea and vomiting about one to two hours after treatment, and symptoms can continue for up to 12 hours. The researchers wanted to determine the optimal dose, comparing the efficacy of 2-mg given once a day with that of 1-mg given twice a day.
Forty patients were randomised to one of the two dosing schedules. Both groups received a dose one hour prior to radiation therapy and the twice-daily group also received a dose 12 hours later.
About half of the patients had radiation directed towards the entire abdomen and pelvis for endometrial cancer. The rest received radiation to the upper abdomen for pancreatic cancer, "hockey-stick" radiation for seminoma, or radiation to the entire pelvis to a dose of at least 50.4 Gy. Daily radiation doses ranged between 150-200 centiGy.
The once-daily group demonstrated a better control of nausea throughout treatment, the researchers reported. Frequency of nausea was one episode per week throughout the five-week study period.
In contrast, the once-daily group showed a steady increase in nausea frequency (p=0.039). Nausea occurred once per week at the beginning of the study and increased to three episodes per week at five weeks.
No difference was seen in the severity of nausea between each group. Six patients, three in each group, required other medication for control of nausea.
"For radiation-induced nausea and vomiting, this medication in a once-daily dose works very well," Lewis told Doctor
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