Background: Most chemotherapic treatments are carried out on an outpatient basis. In such patients the prevention and control of emesis is important. Granisetron is a specific and extremely potent 5-HT3 antagonist available as an oral formulation. We have carried out an open randomized crossover study in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy.
Materials and methods: 30 patients were randomized to receive one of the two oral dose regimens of GRAN. Treatment A = 1 mg of GRAN initially and 12 hours after the first; treatment B = a single 2 mg dose of GRAN. RESULTS. An overall good response for vomiting was reached in 70% and 86.7% respectively of patients receiving treatments A and B (p = 0.0625). Good response to nausea was reached in 73.3% of the patients with treatment A and in 76.7% with treatment B (p = 1). 68.3% of patients did not record chemoinduced emesis.
Conclusion: We believe that oral GRAN alone is an active and safe drug for the prevention of acute chemoinduced emesis.