Antiemetic medication efficacy during EPOCH and R-EPOCH treatment.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to determine the adequacy of current institutional standard practice for CINV prophylaxis for EPOCH and R-EPOCH at The Ohio State University James Cancer Hospital. METHODS: Single-center, retrospective analysis was performed including all patients receiving EPOCH or R-EPOCH chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas from 1/1/2012 to 6/30/2017. The primary endpoint was rate of CINV events, which included usage of more than 50 percent of available doses of breakthrough antiemetics while inpatient, hospitalization due to CINV or related complications, or adjustments made to the CINV prophylactic or breakthrough regimen during current or subsequent cycles. Secondary endpoints included determining prescriber adherence to institutional standard CINV prophylaxis, characterization of adjustments to the antiemetic regimen following the incidence of CINV, and identification of high-risk patients that may benefit from additional CINV prophylaxis. RESULTS: Of 111 patients, 54 (48.6%) experienced CINV events with any cycle of EPOCH or R-EPOCH chemotherapy. Of those patients, 17 (31.5%) received institutional standard CINV prophylaxis at baseline, 8 (14.8%) received additional scheduled antiemetics, and 26 (48.1%) were prescribed additional breakthrough antiemetics with their first cycle of EPOCH or R-EPOCH. Younger age, diagnosis of anxiety, and previous susceptibility to nausea were significantly associated with CINV events. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates the inadequacy of current institutional standard for CINV prophylaxis for patients receiving EPOCH and R-EPOCH, highly emetogenic chemotherapy regimens. With nearly half of included patients experiencing CINV events, and most initially receiving more than our standard prophylaxis, changes to our standard antiemetics used with this chemotherapy regimen are needed.

Incidence of infusion-site reactions associated with peripheral intravenous administration of fosaprepitant.

PURPOSE: Fosaprepitant is known to cause infusion-site reactions. However, there is limited data regarding these reactions including the effect of peripheral intravenous administration or other potential factors on their incidence. This single-institution retrospective study was undertaken to investigate the incidence of infusion-site reactions with single-dose intravenous (IV) fosaprepitant when given through a peripheral line prior to administration of chemotherapy. Risk factors for the development of infusion-site reactions with fosaprepitant were also explored. METHODS: Medical records of patients with cancer receiving IV fosaprepitant through a peripheral line were reviewed. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the incidence of infusion-site reactions at our institution. Data collection included demographics, fosaprepitant infusion information, and grading of reactions. RESULTS: We found a 15 % incidence of infusion-site reactions among all peripherally administered doses of fosaprepitant. The 50 reactions occurred in 43 unique patients representing an incidence per patient of 28.7 % (43/150; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 21.6-36.6). Factors found to be associated with infusion-site reactions included age [odds ratio (OR) 0.97 (95 % CI 0.94-0.99)], location of IV line [OR forearm vs. hand 0.41 (95 % CI 0.20-0.85); OR antecubital fossa vs. hand 0.31 (95 % CI 0.11-0.87)], and simultaneous maintenance IV fluid rate ≥100 mL/h during fosaprepitant infusion [OR 0.19 (95 % CI 0.08-0.44)]. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of infusion-site reactions with peripherally administered fosaprepitant as seen in this study is higher than that reported in the package insert. Risk factors for developing infusion-site reactions in our patient population include age, location of IV line, and simultaneous maintenance IV fluid rate of <100 mL/h.