Patient-related Risk Factors for Nausea and Vomiting With Standard Antiemetics in Patients With Cancer Receiving Carboplatin: A Retrospective Study.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify patient-related risk factors for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients with cancer receiving carboplatin in addition to standard antiemetics, using real-world data.

Methods: In this single-center, observational study, data from electronic medical records of consecutive patients with solid tumors who had received their first cycle of a carboplatin-based regimen and were treated with a 2- or 3-drug combination of antiemetics from January 2014 to January 2019 at Toranomon Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The primary end point was the occurrence of a complete response (CR) within 5 days after the first cycle, which was defined as no vomiting and no use of rescue medication for CINV. A receiver operating characteristic curve, univariable, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used.

Findings: A total of 314 patients were evaluated in this study. The proportion of patients who had a CR in the overall, acute, and delayed phases was 76.8% (n = 241), 98.7% (n = 310), and 77.4% (n = 243), respectively. Similar to univariable logistic regression analysis, multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that age ≥70 years and total dexamethasone dose ≥14.6 mg were significantly associated with a non-CR in the overall phase, whereas female sex, history of habitual alcohol intake, and history of smoking were not associated with a non-CR in the overall phase.

Implications: Our study findings suggest that a patient age of <70 years and a total dexamethasone dose of <14.6 mg are high-risk factors for carboplatin-induced CINV.