Oral Akynzeo® Vs Standard of Care in Preventing CINV in High-risk MEC Patients (MyRisk)

Antiemetic guideline recommendations are based on the emetogenic potential of chemotherapy and involve 4 levels of classification of intravenous chemotherapy agents, i.e., high, moderate, low and minimal; these have been accepted by major organisations. Moderate emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) results in acute vomiting in 30% to 90% of cancer patients in the absence of antiemetic therapy. In addition to the chemotherapy type, several patient-related risk factors and clinical characteristics can increase CINV risk. These can include use of antiemetics inconsistent with international guidelines, younger age, prechemotherapy nausea, no complete CINV response in an earlier cycle, history of nausea/vomiting, (trait) anxiety, fatigue experience, and expectations of nausea/vomiting. Other studies have largely confirmed some of the key risk factors for CINV (history of vomiting during pregnancy, history of motion sickness, age, gender) and added other factors such as (chronic) alcohol consumption, body surface area, fewer hours slept the night prior to infusion, or advanced stage cancer. Currently, there is a limited consensus surrounding the most relevant patient risk factors that may predict CINV risk. Based on a recent study by Dranitsaris et al. eight predictive factors have been identified, and an algorithm has been developed to combine these patient-related risk factors into the optimal treatment of prophylactic antiemetics. These include:

1. nausea and/or vomiting in the prior cycle of chemotherapy

2. use of non-prescribed antiemetics at home in the prior cycle of chemotherapy

3. platinum or anthracycline-based chemotherapy

4. age < 60 years

5. expectations for (anticipating) nausea and/or vomiting

6. <7 h of sleep the night before chemotherapy

7. history of morning sickness during previous pregnancy

8. cycle of chemotherapy (A negative association between risk and number of cycles was identified where the hazard for CINV was highest in cycles 1 and 2, with a gradual decline and plateau from cycle 3 onward).

Akynzeo®, an oral combination of the neurokinin 1 receptor antagonists (NK1 RA), netupitant and the 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT3) receptor antagonists (5-HT3 RA), palonosetron, is recommended by guidelines for the prevention of CINV. Akynzeo® has been evaluated in a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy phase II clinical trial at various dose ranges among 694 cisplatin-treated cancer patients from 44 sites (two countries); each NEPA (netupitant-palonosetron) dose significantly improves CINV prevention in cancer patients. Similar results were obtained in another international, randomised, double-blind and parallel group phase III clinical trial; NEPA prevented CINV in patients receiving MEC.

The current study primarily aimed to evaluate whether Akynzeo® leads to a higher response rate compared with standard care in MEC regimen-treated patients who are identified to be at high risk based on the algorithm.