Efficacy of NEPA for prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in head and neck cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy

A 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 receptor antagonist (5-HT3RA) in combination with a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist (NK-1RA) are effective for the prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting.

We investigated the efficacy between oral netupitant and palonosetron (NEPA) and intravenous fosaprepitant and palonosetron (FOPA) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

R/M HNSCC patients who were treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment were enrolled in our study. All patients were stratified according to anti-emetic agents, classifying into NEPA group and FOPA group. Anti-emetic efficacy, patients self-report scores and hospitalization days were compared between NEPA and FOPA.

A total of 425 R/M HNSCC patients were recruited into our study, with 211 patients in NEPA and 214 patients in FOPA. Anti-emetic efficacy were all significantly better with NEPA than with FOPA across cycle 1 to 5. The mean nausea score were 2.9 vs. 3.4 (p = 0.004) and the mean vomiting score were 1.4 vs. 2.7 (P = 0.001) in cycle 1 for NEPA group and FOPA group, respectively. The mean satisfaction scores were 8.5 vs. 8.2 ( P = 0.032) in cycle1 for NEPA group and FOPA group, respectively. Furthermore, the mean hospitalization days were shorter in NEPA than those in FOPA across cycle 1 to 5, with mean hospitalization days 6.0 versus 7.0 days in cycle 1, respectively.

Oral NEPA exhibited a superior anti-emetic efficacy than intravenous FOPA, as well as shorter hospitalization days for R/M HNSCC patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.