The safety and efficacy of aprepitant in combination with other antiemetic agents for the prevention of acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in pediatric patients

Abstract

Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting is the one of the most dreaded complication of chemotherapy in pediatric and adult cancers. Aprepitant is a neurokinin-1 antagonist that has shown significant efficacy in controlling acute and delayed chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting when added to the backbone of type 3 serotonin 5- hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonist and corticosteroid in patients receiving moderately and highly emetogenic chemotherapy. There is abundant data in adults regarding the use aprepitant as an anti-emetic prophylactic agent; the data in pediatric patients are limited. However, increasing number of studies is being reported in pediatric cancer patients. Two phase 3 trials have been reported in last year that showed significant efficacy of aprepitant in pediatric population in decreasing the incidence and severity of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. We hereby present the consolidated existing data regarding the safety and efficacy of aprepitant in pediatric cancer patients.