Efficacy of NEPA (netupitant/palonosetron) across multiple cycles of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients: A subanalysis from two phase III trials

Abstract Objectives Breast cancer (BC) patients represent a high-risk population for experiencing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), since they frequently receive highly emetogenic anthracycline-cyclophosphamide–based (AC) chemotherapy, and are often female and young, two predisposing risk factors for CINV. Guidelines recommend the combination of a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist (NK 1 RA), 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 RA (5-HT 3 RA), and dexamethasone (DEX) for CINV prophylaxis in AC-treated patients. This post-hoc analysis evaluated the efficacy of NEPA, a fixed combination of netupitant (NETU [NK 1 RA]) and palonosetron (PALO [5-HT 3 RA]) in BC patients from two phase III studies. Methods Overall, 1460 BC patients received AC (Study 1) or non-AC (Study 2) therapy over 6060 cycles. Randomized patients received DEX with either NEPA or oral PALO (Study 1), or NEPA or aprepitant+oral PALO (Study 2) before chemotherapy. Results In AC-receiving patients, overall complete response (CR) rates with NEPA+DEX were statistically significantly higher than oral PALO+DEX rates (cycles 1–4: 73.9% vs 65.9%, 80.0% vs 66.0%, 83.6% vs 69.9%, 83.6% vs 74.4%, respectively). Overall, no significant nausea (NSN) rates were also superior with NEPA+DEX vs oral PALO+DEX (respectively, 74.2%–79.9% vs 68.5%–74.9%). A greater proportion of NEPA+DEX patients experienced “no-impact-on-daily-life” due to CINV (78.4% vs 71.4%) in cycle 1. In non-AC–receiving patients, prophylaxis with NEPA+DEX resulted in high CR and NSN rates across 1–4 chemotherapy cycles; no formal comparison with the control arm was performed. Conclusion NEPA+DEX administered as a single dose is an effective option for preventing CINV in BC patients receiving AC and non-AC, across multiple chemotherapy cycles. Clinical trials registration numbers Study 1 : NCT01339260 , Study 2: NCT01376297 .