Making Chemotherapy Easier

Abstract

Cancer chemotherapy is a double-edged sword. Dramatic responses may be accompanied by equally dramatic toxic effects, the most feared of which are nausea and vomiting.¹ The public's perception is that severe nausea and vomiting are inevitable with the use of any chemotherapeutic agent. Fortunately, this is not true. The emetogenic potential of chemotherapeutic agents ranges from severe (cisplatin) to virtually nil (bleomycin). Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting may be severe enough, however, to prevent patients from completing curative courses of treatment. The development of effective antiemetic agents has therefore been an ongoing effort.Chemotherapy induces vomiting through a multiafferent neural reflex . . .