TROPISETRON (NAVOBAN) IN THE CONTROL OF NAUSEA AND VOMITING INDUCED BY COMBINED CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY IN CHILDREN

Tropisetron (Navoban), a selective antagonist of the serotonin receptor (5HT3), was evaluated in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in 100 children with miscellaneous malignancies (age range: 6 months-15 years). Patients received tropisetron during one or more courses of emetogenic chemotherapy for a total of 350 courses administered intravenously or intravenously and intrathecally. Tropisetron (0.2 mg/kg/day, maximum: 5 mg/day) was administered as a single intravenous dose slowly, before the start of chemotherapy on day 1 and intravenously or by mouth on the subsequent days (median treatment duration: 5 days). The patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy had a 70% complete response rate and a 24% partial response rate during the first 24-hour period of the first course. In courses with cisplatin containing regimens, 50% complete response rate was obtained in the tropisetron monotherapy while 65% complete response rate were observed in the tropisetron + dexamethasone group (P<0.05). We observed headache (5 courses), diarrhea (3 courses) and loss of appetite (1 course) as side effects (2.5%). The adverse effects were mild and did not lead to discontinuation of treatment.