DOSE-FINDING STUDY OF GRANISETRON IN PATIENTS RECEIVING HIGH-DOSE CISPLATIN CHEMOTHERAPY

The efficacy and safety of three different doses of granisetron (2 mu g kg(-1), group A; 10 mu g kg(-1), group B; 40 mu g kg(-1), group C) were compared in a randomised, double-blind study of 157 patients due to receive high-dose cisplatin therapy (mean dose > 97 mg m(-2)). In each group, up to two 3 mg rescue doses of granisetron were allowed if more than mild nausea or vomiting occurred. In group A 30.8%, in group B 61.5% and in group C 67.9% of patients were complete responders (i.e. no vomiting or nothing worse than mild nausea) during the first 24 h. These differences are significant between groups A and B, and A and C. There were no statistically significant differences in any efficacy variable between the 10 mu g kg(-1) and 40 mu g kg(-1) groups, although in each case the trend favoured the higher dose. Additional rescue doses resulted in resolved or improved symptoms in 95.3% for the first rescue dose and 93.3% for the second. Over the 7 days of the study, 82.7%, 82.7% and 86.8% of patients in groups A, B and C respectively were treated with granisetron alone. Headache was the most common side-effect, reported by 9.6% of patients; the majority of headaches were mild. There was no difference between the treatment groups regarding the adverse event rate. We concluded that prophylactic doses of 10 or 40 mu g kg(-1) lead to a safe and satisfactory degree of control of nausea and vomiting induced by high-dose cisplatin.