Every year, nearly 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with some form of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, heart or abdomen, caused by exposure to asbestos. Unfortunately, mesothelioma is extremely aggressive and is one of the most difficult types of cancer to treat. An equally aggressive treatment regimen consisting of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is often prescribed to battle the cancer. However, the various side effects from the toxic amounts of medicine needed to kill the cancer cells often leave patients weak and dehydrated.
Vomiting (medically known as emesis) and nausea from chemotherapy treatments can significantly impact a patient's quality of life and may even lead them to halt their chemo treatments. While currently, doctors can prescribe a variety of anti-emetic medications, metoclopramide is one of the most common, to minimize the sickness, many patients are still affected with some amount of vomiting.
Now, researchers at Harper Cancer Institute at Indiana University have found that an off-label use of the anti-psychotic drug olanzapine has been shown to significantly eliminate chemotherapy-induced vomiting and nausea. In fact, the results of olanzapine during the clinical trial were said to "trounce" the benefits of the often-prescribed metoclopramide.
30 of 42 patients in the double-blind phase III study who received olanzapine had no vomiting, and 28 of the patients did not experience any feelings of nausea. On the other hand, just 12 of 38 patients who were treated with metoclopramide did not vomit, and only 9 did not feel nauseous.
Lead researcher Dr. Rudolph M. Navari director of the Harper Cancer Institute at Indiana University said that olanzapine is known to cause weight gain over an extended period of use. However, he said that cancer patients would only take the medicine 3-4 days a month and no weight gain was observed.
Dr. Rudolph M. Navari presented the study findings during a press briefing in advance of the annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), June 1-5, in Chicago.
"This is a huge advance," said ASCO president-elect Dr. Sandra M. Swain, a breast cancer expert, who co-moderated the teleconference. "We've come a long way to really treat and cure these patients … these side effects can be intolerable to patients. Sometimes patients will opt out of curative treatment, and we certainly don't want that, when we know we've made advances."
Swain added, "[these findings are] a great step forward for quality of life for our patients."
If you have become sick after your chemotherapy treatments, ChemoCare.com suggests once you begin to feel better to drink small amounts of clear liquids including broth, juice, sports drinks and water. Progress to light foods such as jello, bananas and toast.
Mesothelioma patients who are not getting relief from vomiting or nausea after chemotherapy treatments should discuss treatment options with their physician.
