risk factors
Risk factors and incidence of CINV
The development and validation of tools with good
predictive accuracy and high generalisability for
the different types of CINV and malignancies will
ultimately contribute to improved, personalised
emetic therapy strategies
George Dranitsaris BPharm
MS PhD FCSHP
Consultant in Health Economics
and Statistics, Augmentium Pharma
Consulting Inc, Canada
Although chemotherapy
agents are widely used and
effective in the oncology field, they
are highly toxic and cause a myriad
of adverse side effects of varying
severity and impact on patients.
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and
vomiting (CINV) is particularly
distressful and remains among the
most feared side effects of
treatment by cancer patients.
Unfortunately, a large proportion
of patients experience CINV events
throughout the course of their
treatments despite the availability
of effective antiemetic agents.
The events can have detrimental
consequences on clinical outcomes
and quality of life. Antiemetic
guidelines are produced by the
major cancer associations such as
the American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO), Multinational
Association of Supportive Care in
Cancer/European Society of
Medical Oncology (MASCC/ESMO)
and National Comprehensive
Cancer Network (NCCN) to provide
physicians with a comprehensive
panel of recommendations to
guide their antiemetic choice.
However, current emesis
prophylaxis guidelines do not take
into consideration individual risk
factors that predispose patients to
CINV. The identification and
hospitalpharmacyeurope.com | 2018 | 25