Drugs to Reduce the Side Effects of Chemotherapy

RATIONALE: Antiemetic drugs may help to reduce or prevent nausea and vomiting in patients treated with chemotherapy. It is not known whether receiving dexamethasone with granisetron is more effective than receiving dexamethasone with metoclopramide for reducing the side effects of chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of dexamethasone with either...

Date First Received: November 1, 1999

Last Updated: July 23, 2008

Verified by: National Cancer Institute (NCI), May 2007

Clinical Trial Phase: Phase 3 | Start Date: May 1996

Overall Status: Active, not recruiting

Estimated Enrollment: 360

Brief Summary

Official Title: “A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial to Compare the Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Granisetron vs. Metoclopramide Combined to Dexamethasone in the Prophylaxis of Chemotherapy-Induced Delayed Emesis”

RATIONALE: Antiemetic drugs may help to reduce or prevent nausea and vomiting in patients treated with chemotherapy. It is not known whether receiving dexamethasone with granisetron is more effective than receiving dexamethasone with metoclopramide for reducing the side effects of chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of dexamethasone with either granisetron or metoclopramide in patients treated with chemotherapy.

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Supportive Care, Randomized

Detailed Clinical Trial Description

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the clinical efficacy and safety of Granisetron or Metoclopramide in combination with Dexamethasone in the prophylaxis of delayed nausea and vomiting induced by emetogenic cancer chemotherapy in patients with or without emesis in the acute phase.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double blind study. Patients are stratified by prior chemotherapy (yes vs no), regular alcohol consumption (yes vs no), and prior chemotherapy regimen (cisplatin/carboplatin vs others). Patients receive dexamethasone and granisetron by mouth bid on day 0. Patients are then randomized to receive either granisetron or metoclopramide with dexamethasone concurrently with chemotherapy. Arm I: Patients receive granisetron by mouth bid on days 1-5. Dexamethasone and a placebo are administered by mouth once daily on days 1-5. Arm II: Patients receive metoclopramide by mouth tid on days 1-5.

Dexamethasone is administered by mouth once daily on days 1-5. Patients must complete a diary card daily for 6 days.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: This study will accrue 360 patients.

Intervention(s) in this Clinical Trial

  • Drug: dexamethasone
  • Drug: granisetron hydrochloride
  • Drug: metoclopramide hydrochloride

Criteria for Participation in this Clinical Trial

  • DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Scheduled to receive a first course of highly emetogenic single day cancer chemotherapy regimens including: Cisplatin at least 50 mg/m2 Carboplatin at least 300 mg/m2 Dacarbazine at least 500 mg/m2 Doxorubicin at least 40 mg/m2 Epirubicin at least 60 mg/m2 Ifosfamide at least 1200 mg/m2 Cyclophosphamide at least 600 mg/m2
  • PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: Not specified Renal: Not specified Other: Must be able to complete diary card (fluent in German, French, or Italian)

No severe concurrent illness No other etiologies that cause vomiting, including:

  • Gastrointestinal obstruction Hypercalcemia CNS metastases No active peptic ulceration No prior gastrointestinal bleeding due to peptic ulcer No moderate to severe nausea or any vomiting in the 24 hours prior to chemotherapy Not pregnant or lactating
  • PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: At least 6 months since prior chemotherapy Concurrent etoposide and fluorouracil allowed (days 1-5) No chemotherapy before day 0 of study Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: Not specified Surgery: Not specified Other: No other concurrent antiemetics No concurrent high dose benzodiazepines No concurrent psychotropic agents

Gender Eligibility for this Clinical Trial: Both

Minimum Age for this Clinical Trial: 18 Years

Maximum Age for this Clinical Trial: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted for this Clinical Trial?: No

Clinical Trial Sponsor Information

Lead Sponsor: Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research

Overall Clinical Trial Officials and Contacts

Matti S. Aapro, MD Study Chair European Institute of Oncology  

Related Publications

Citations Reporting Results

Aapro MS, Thuerlimann B, Sessa C, De Pree C, Bernhard J, Maibach R; Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research. A randomized double-blind trial to compare the clinical efficacy of granisetron with metoclopramide, both combined with dexamethasone in the prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced delayed emesis. Ann Oncol. 2003 Feb;14(2):291-7.

Bernhard J, Maibach R, Thurlimann B, Sessa C, Aapro MS; Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research. Patients' estimation of overall treatment burden: why not ask the obvious? J Clin Oncol. 2002 Jan 1;20(1):65-72.

Aapro MS, Sessa C, Thurlimann B, et al.: SAKK 90/95: a randomized double-blind trial to compare the clinical efficacy of granisetron to metoclopramide, both combined to dexamethasone in the prophylaxis of chemotherapy induced delayed emesis. [Abstract] Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 19: A2360, 2000.

Additional Information

Information obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov on August 29, 2008

Link to the current ClinicalTrials.gov record. http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00003213

Study ID Number: CDR0000066073

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00003213

Health Authority: United States: Federal Government

Clinical trial summary from the National Cancer Institute's PDQ® database

Clinical Trials Authorship and Review

Clinical Trials content is provided directly by the U.S. National Institutes of Health via ClinicalTrials.gov and is not reviewed separately by ClinicalTrialsFeeds.org. Every page of specific clinical trials information contains a unique identifier which can be used to find further details directly from the National Institutes of Health.