• A Ozkan, I Yildiz, L Yüksel, H Apak, and T Celkan.
• Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University of Istanbul, Turkey.
• Jpn. J. Clin. Oncol. 1999 Feb 1; 29 (2): 92-5.

BackgroundWe aimed to assess the potency and efficacy of tropisetron, a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, in the prevention of nausea and emesis observed in the pediatric patient population taking various chemotherapy protocols.MethodsTropisetron (Navoban) was given to 100 children (62 boys and 38 girls aged 6 months to 15 years) with various malignancies. Patients received tropisetron during one or more courses of emetogenic chemotherapy for a total of 350 courses administered intravenously or intravenously and intrathecally. Tropisetron (0.2 mg/kg/day, maximum: 5 mg/day) was administered as a single intravenous dose slowly, before the start of chemotherapy on day 1 and intravenously or by mouth on subsequent days (median treatment duration: 5 days).ResultsThe patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy had a 70% complete response rate and a 24% partial response rate during the first 24 h period of the first course. We observed headache (five courses), diarrhea (three courses) and loss of appetite (one course) as side-effects (2.5%).ConclusionTropisetron is safe, effective, easy to use, has no serious side-effects and can be recommended for pediatric patients. The efficacy of tropisetron may be enhanced by the addition of corticosteroids in patients receiving highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.

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