Determination of the effect of aprepitant and fosaprepitant for nausea in patients with oral cancer receiving combination chemotherapy with TPF

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of aprepitant (from days 1 to 3, po) and fosaprepitant (day 1, iv) for nausea in patients with oral cancer receiving combination chemotherapy with docetaxel, nedaplatin, or cisplatin (divided doses for 5 days), and 5-fluorouracil (TPF). The incidence rate of nausea in the aprepitant group was 60% (6/10), and that in the fosaprepitant group was 90% (9/10). The incidence rate of continuous nausea for more than 2 days was significantly lower in the aprepitant group than in the fosaprepitant group (40% [4/10] vs 90% [9/10], p=0.02; x2test). In addition, the mean area under the curve of the chronological changes in the grade of nausea tended to be lower in the aprepitant group than in the fosaprepitant group. In both groups, 3 cases (30%) of vomiting were observed. However, the incidence of continued daily vomiting tended to be lower in the aprepitant group than in the fosaprepitant group. These results suggest that aprepitant is more effective than fosaprepitant for nausea induced by TPF.