Nausea and vomiting (feeling sick to your stomach and throwing up) are two of the most common
unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy agents (drugs specifically used to treat cancer) that
will be used for cancer treatment. If nausea and vomiting are not controlled, they could lead
to dehydration, poor nutrition and a longer time in the hospital. Nausea and vomiting usually
occur in response to conditions that affect the gut and the vomiting center, which is an area
in the brain.
Netupitant and palonosetron are drugs that are thought to block the activation of certain
types of chemicals in these areas (brain and gut) and, therefore, to prevent or reduce the
severity of nausea and vomiting. Nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy is classified
into two patterns based on the time of onset or start. Acute nausea and vomiting start within
24 hours of chemotherapy administration. Delayed nausea and vomiting starts approximately 2-5
days after chemotherapy administration. Regardless of when the nausea and vomiting start,
these symptoms are usually treated with not just one drug, but a combination of drugs. In
this study you will receive the study drug, which is a fixed combination of netupitant and
palonosetron.
This is an open label single arm study. The main purpose of this study or clinical trial is
to learn more about the effect (how well it works) of the fixed combination of netupitant and
palonosetron (NEPA) in preventing nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in Hong
Kong oncology patients receiving (neo)-adjuvant chemotherapy treatment consists of adriamycin
and cyclophosphamide for breast cancer.