Efficacy of ginger for prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients receiving adriamycin-cyclophosphamide regimen: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of ginger for reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in breast cancer patients receiving adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) regimens. METHODS: We enrolled breast cancer patients receiving AC who experienced moderate to severe nausea or vomiting during the first chemotherapy cycle. Subjects were randomized to receive a 500-mg ginger capsule or placebo twice a day for 5 days starting on the first day of the second AC cycle and were switched to the other treatment in the third cycle. All participants also received ondansetron and dexamethasone for CINV prophylaxis. Nausea severity was recorded once a day during the first 5 days of each cycle. The primary outcome was reduction in nausea score. RESULTS: Thirty-four subjects (68 cycles of AC) were enrolled. Mean (range) maximum nausea score in the first AC cycle was 58 (40-90). Thirty-three subjects (97 %) received the same AC doses in the second as in the third cycle. Mean (±standard error) maximum nausea scores in patients receiving ginger and placebo were 35.36 (±4.43) and 32.17 (±3.71), respectively. The difference in mean maximum nausea scores was 3 (95 % confidence interval, -3 to 9; P = 0.3). There were no significant differences between ginger and placebo in terms of vomiting incidence and severity, rescue medication use, chemotherapy compliance, and adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Ginger (500 mg) twice daily was safe, but conferred no additional benefit in terms of reducing nausea severity in breast cancer patients receiving AC and ondansetron and dexamethasone for CINV prophylaxis.

Clinical characteristics and disease outcome of UICC stages I-III colorectal cancer patients at Siriraj Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide. There were only a few reports of disease outcomes in Thai. Therefore, the authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical characteristics and disease outcome of patients with curable colorectal cancer treated at Siriraj Hospital, the largest tertiary-care hospital in Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Medical records of colorectal cancer patients diagnosed at Siriraj Hospital between January 2003 and December 2007 were reviewed. The records of the patients presenting with stage I-III and had been follow-up for at least 2 years were explored. Clinical characteristics, including demographic data, primary tumor site, TMN staging, histopathology, and CEA level were described. Disease outcome including survival, recurrence of disease and complication were analyzed. RESULTS: One thousand forty-seven colorectal cancer patients were diagnosed and completely staged during the study period. The incidence of stage I-IV was 9%, 22%, 37% and 32%, respectively. Three hundred fifty-five patients with stage I-III colorectal cancer were analyzed. The ratio of male and female was 1.4:1. The median age was 59.8 years. Forty-eight percent and 52% of patients had colon and rectal cancer, respectively. The median follow-up time was 63.3 months. The mean time from diagnosis to surgery was 23 days. Two hundred forty eight patients (70%) received adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the majority receiving 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin. 5-year disease free survival rate in stage I-III was 90%, 85% and 58%, respectively and 5-year overall survival in stage I-III was 93%, 93% and 73%, respectively. Independent risk factors for disease-free survival were gender preoperative CEA and stage; for overall survival were gender and stage. CONCLUSION: Approximately two-thirds (68%) of patients with colorectal cancer at Siriraj hospital presented with a potentially curable stage. Multi-modality treatments with surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation resulted in comparable survival as in Western countries. Independent risk factors for worse survival in this cohort were stage III disease and male gender.