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Purpose: Amrubicin (AMR) is an anthracycline antitumor agent that has little cardiotoxicity and exhibits promising activity for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Although AMR monotherapy is primarily used as a second-line treatment for SCLC in Japan, AMR-induced nausea and vomiting have not been definitively evaluated, and antiemetic therapy for AMR has yet to be established. This study retrospectively evaluated the antiemetic effects of granisetron or metoclopramide during AMR monotherapy. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of SCLC patients who received AMR monotherapy at our hospital. Incidence of nausea and vomiting and the complete response (CR) of the anti-emesis, which was defined as the absence of any emetic episode or the use of any rescue medication, were evaluated. Results: A total of 63 SCLC patients were treated with AMR monotherapy between April 2009 and November 2014. Antiemetic therapy was administered on days 1-3, with 33 patients receiving 3 mg of granisetron (Group G) and 30 patients receiving 20 mg of metoclopramide (Group M). Nausea and vomiting were observed in 30.3% of Group G and 30.0% of Group M patients. The CR rate observed was 78.7% in Group G and 73.3% in Group M. There were no significant differences between Groups G and M. Conclusion: Both granisetron and metoclopramide were successfully used for anti-emesis during AMR monotherapy.
Aoyama et al. (Thu,) studied this question.