Antibiotic Pills & Drugs

Control of chemotherapy-induced nausea, once an elusive prospect, is increasingly successful with the use of an approved drug commonly used by psychiatrists, according to conclusive findings in a new study by Rudy Navari, M.D., Ph.D, F.A.C.P., assistant dean and director of the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend and clinical director of the Harper Cancer Research Institute.

Navari’s Phase III study demonstrates that the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine, used in conjunction with standard antiemetics during the administration of chemotherapy, curbs vomiting and significantly reduces nausea, and at a lesser cost  than the use of the current standard antiemetic regimen using the drug Aprepitant.  While Aprepitant has been effective in controlling vomiting, researchers had yet to identify an effective anti-nausea medication until the clinical trials with Olanzapine.

The study appears in the September/October issue of The Journal of Supportive Oncology. Navari’s co-researchers were University of Notre Dame undergraduates Sarah E. Gray, Class of 2011, and Andrew C. Kerr, Class of 2010.

In Phase I and Phase II studies, Navari identified the appropriate dosage and the effectiveness of the Olanzapine to treat nausea. The Phase III  study compares Olanzapine to the current standards, proving it twice as effective. The findings bear out those of a recent Japanese study, paving the way for revisions of standards in treating chemo-related nausea, Navari said.

Olanzapine already has Food and Drug Administration approval as an antipsychotic. Navari’s studies have identified that the brief use of the drug during the administration of chemotherapy causes no major side effects.