Palonosetron in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with high-dose methotrexate.

9535 Background: High-dose methotrexate is moderately emetogenic and requires preventive antiemetic therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antiemetic effect of palonosetron (5 µg/kg) given once 0.5 h before start of 24-hour infusion with high dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) (5g/m2) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods: From January 2010 until December 2010, 53 children were included in a prospective clinical observational study from all four Danish Childhood Cancer Centers. Information regarding emetic episodes, rescue treatments (any extra antiemetic medication) and nausea were recorded by patients/parents and nurses on questionnaires for a total of 138 HD-MTX courses. Results: The primary end point was complete response (no emetic episodes and no rescue treatments). This was achieved in 86.8% of patients in the acute phase (0-24 hours post-chemotherapy) and 60.4% of patients in the delayed phase (24-66 hours post-chemotherapy). 94.3% of the patients were completely fre...