A randomized trial of once vs twice daily administration of intravenous granisetron with dexamethosone in patients receiving high-dose cyclophosphamide, thiotepa and carboplatin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal schedule of i.v. granisetron and dexamethosone for control of nausea and emesis in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy (HDC). Seventy patients with breast cancer received high-dose cyclophosphamide, thiotepa and carboplatin (CTCb) for 3 consecutive days. All 70 received dexamethasone 12 mg i.v. and granisetron 1 mg i.v. prior to infusion of CTCb and were randomized to receive placebo (n = 37) or an additional identical dose of granisetron (n = 33) 12 h later. Beginning on day 2 of chemotherapy administration, 55 patients evaluable later self-administered a cocktail of diphenhydramine (benadryl), lorazepam (ativan) and dexamethasone (BAD). Fourteen of 37 patients (38%) receiving granisetron once a day and 15/33 (44%) receiving it twice a day had a complete response during the first 24 h following the first doses of chemotherapy (P = 0.52). In the 55 evaluable patients receiving BAD, 18 of 29 (62%) in the once daily group and 14/26 (54%) in the twice daily group required additional medications (P = 0.54). The median time to first emetic episode was 20 h (range 6.6–79.5) for patients receiving once a day and 21.4 hours (range 5.8–105.3) for patients receiving twice a day granisetron (P = 0.48). Five patients in the once daily and seven patients in the twice daily group had complete control of nausea and emesis throughout the study period (P = 0.37). It was concluded that there were no statistically significant differences in nausea and emetic control between dexamethasone with once daily or twice daily i.v. granisetron administration in patients receiving high-dose CTCb.