Table 1.
Characteristics of randomized controlled studies included in the meta-analysis
| Author/year [reference] | Study design | Intervention (dose in mg) | No. of patientsa | Type of cancerb | Type of chemotherapy | Female (%) | Mean age (years) | Alcohol non-users (%) | Chemo-naive (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aapro/2010 [10] | Multicenter, double-blind, non-inferiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.25) + DEX (8) on day 1 | 1) 151/151 | Breast | AC | 1) 100 | 1) 52.1 | 1) 79.8 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.25) + DEX (8) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 149/149 | 2) 100 | 2) 51.2 | 2) 80.2 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Celio/2011 [11] | Multicenter, open-label, non-inferiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.25) + DEX (8) on day 1 | 1) 166/163 | Breast, colon, lung | MEC (n = 237)c or AC | 1) 62.0 | 1) 56.9 | 1) 60.8 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.25) + DEX (8) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 166/161 | 2) 68.1 | 2) 57.2 | 2) 59.6 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Roila/2014 [13] | Multicenter, double-blind, superiority, parallel | `1) Palo (0.25) + APR (125) + DEX (8) on day 1 + APR (80) on days 2–3 | 1) 289/278 | Breast | AC | 1) 100 | 1) 53.1 | 1) 83.5 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.25) + APR (125) + DEX (8) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 291/273 | 2) 99.3 | 2) 52.9 | 2) 76.9 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Furukawa/2015 [22] | Single-center, open-label, non-inferiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.75) + DEX (20) on day 1 | 1) 44/43 | Ovary, endometrium, cervix | MEC (carboplatin) | 1) 100 | 1) 59d | 1) 90.7 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.75) + DEX (20) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 44/39 | 2) 100 | 2) 62d | 2) 92.3 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Matsuura/2015 [23] | Multicenter, open-label, superiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9 or 20) on day 1 | 1) 58/56 | Ovary, endometrium, cervix | MEC (carboplatin) | 1) 100 | 1) 57.7 | 1) 69.6 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9 or 20) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 58/53 | 2) 100 | 2) 56.7 | 2) 64.2 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Komatsu/2015 [24] | Multicenter, open-label, non-inferiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9) on day 1 | 1) 154/151 | NR | MEC (mainly oxaliplatin or irinotecan) | 1) 43.0 | 1) 64.1 | 1) 51.0 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9) on day 1 + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 154/154 | 2) 43.5 | 2) 64.0 | 2) 51.9 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Kosaka/2016 [25] | Single-center, single-blind, superiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.75) + DEX (12) + APR (125) on day 1 + APR (80) on days 2–3 | 1) 41/39 | Breast | AC | 1) 100 | 1) 52.6 | 1) 64.1 | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.75) + DEX (12) + APR (125) on day 1 + APR (80) + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 41/41 | 2) 100 | 2) 53.5 | 2) 61.0 | 2) 100 | ||||
| Ito/2018 [14] | Multicenter, double-blind, non-inferiority, parallel | 1) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9) + NK-1RAf on day 1 + APR (80) on days 2–3 | 1) 200/200 | Breast, oesophagus, stomach | AC (n = 306)e or cisplatin | 1) 81.5 | 1) 54.1d | 1) NR | 1) 100 |
| 2) Palo (0.75) + DEX (9.9) + NK-1RA on day 1 + APR (80) + DEX (8) on days 2–3 | 2) 201/196 | 2) 80.1 | 2) 55d | 2) NR | 2) 100 |
Abbreviations: Palo palonosetron, DEX dexamethasone, APR aprepitant, AC anthracycline plus cyclophosphamide, MEC moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, NK-1RA neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, NR not reported
apatients randomised/patients included in efficacy analyses
bmain types of malignancies
conly patients receiving chemotherapy regimens classified as MEC were analysed in the meta-analysis
dmedian age
eonly patients receiving AC-based regimens were analysed in the meta-analysis
fpatients also received single-dose fosaprepitant on day 1 rather than aprepitant for 3 days