Incidence of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among cancer patients receiving moderately to highly emetogenic chemotherapy in cancer centers in Sichuan, China.

PURPOSE

Nausea and vomiting are the most painful and feared side effects for patients during chemotherapy. Currently, most studies focus on the occurrence of CINV during the risk phase. We initiated this real-world study to understand the actual occurrence of CINV throughout all phases, to provide a basis to prevent CINV in patients during chemotherapy and improve their quality of life.

METHODS

This prospective real-world study was conducted at 17 major cancer centers in Sichuan, China. Cancer patients who were about to receive moderately/highly emetogenic chemotherapy were included in the study. Occurrences of nausea and vomiting were recorded using patient diaries, and physicians are responsible for recording patient clinical data.

RESULTS

A total of 1,139 patients were included in this study between August 2018 and April 2019. In this study, the incidence of acute CINV was 55.3%, delayed CINV was 62.3%, and CINV beyond the risk period was 36%. All phases overall, the overall complete control (CC) rate of CINV was 30.1 and 32.1% for highly and moderately emetogenic chemotherapy regimens, respectively. The median CC time for CINV was 7 days, but only 21.5% of these patients used antiemetic regimens according to the NCCN guideline.

CONCLUSION

In the real world, the incidence of CINV is high in patients receiving chemotherapy, and nausea and vomiting may occur beyond the risk period; the low level of standardized antiemetic treatment in compliance with the guideline might have been the main reason for unsatisfactory prevention and control of CINV in this study.