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The advent of new cancer therapies, alongside expected growth and ageing of the population, better survival rates and associated costs of care, is uncovering a need to more clearly define and integrate supportive care services across the whole spectrum of the disease. The current focus of cancer care is on initial diagnosis and treatment, and end of life care. The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer defines supportive care as ‘the prevention and management of the adverse effects of cancer and its treatment’. This encompasses the entire cancer journey, and necessitates involvement and integration of most clinical specialties. Optimal supportive care can assist in accurate diagnosis and management, and ultimately improve outcomes. A national strategy to implement supportive care is needed to acknowledge evolving oncology practice, changing disease patterns and the changing patient demographic.

Background. Guideline-recommended antiemetic prophylaxis improves nausea and vomiting control in most patients undergoing chemotherapy. Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/European Society for Medical Oncology (MASCC/ESMO) antiemetic guidelines recommend prophylaxis with a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist (NK 1 RA), a 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT 3)RA, and dexamethasone for patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC), including anthracycline-cyclophosphamide (AC)-and carboplatin (considered moderately emetogenic chemotherapy)-based chemotherapy. Here, we analyze the use of NK 1 RA-5-HT 3 RA-dexamethasone for antiemetic prophylaxis associated with HEC and carboplatin. Methods. The data source was the Global Oncology Monitor (Ipsos Healthcare). Geographically representative physicians from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK were screened for treatment involvement and number of patients treated/month. Patients' data from Jan-Dec 2018 were collected from medical charts and extrapolated on the basis of the total number of physicians who prescribe chemotherapy. The emetic risk of chemotherapy was classified per MASCC/ESMO guidelines. Results. Data from 45,324 chemotherapy-treated patients were collected, representing a total extrapolated prevalence of 1,394,848 chemotherapy treatments included in the analysis. NK 1 RAs were used in 45%/42%/19% of patients receiving cisplatin-/AC-/carboplatin-based chemotherapy, respectively; 18%/24%/7% received the guidelinerecommended NK 1 RA-5-HT 3 RA-dexamethasone combination; no antiemetics were prescribed for 12% of the treatments. Often, physicians' perception of the emetic risk of chemotherapy did not follow MASCC/ESMO guideline classification. Conclusion. Low adherence to antiemetic guidelines was revealed in clinical practice in five European countries, with 15% of all HEC-/carboplatin-based treatments receiving guideline-recommended NK 1 RA-5-HT 3 RA-dexamethasone prophylaxis, and 12% of them receiving no antiemetics. New strategies for improving guideline adherence are urgently needed. The Oncologist 2021;9999:• • Implications for Practice: Despite recent advances in antiemetic therapy, a substantial proportion of patients experience nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in daily clinical practice. Antiemetic guidelines aim at prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and guideline-consistent antiemetic therapy can effectively prevent vomiting and, to a lesser extent, nausea in most patients with cancer. This study reports low adherence to antiemetic guidelines in the highly emetogenic chemotherapy setting in daily clinical practice across five European countries. Opportunity

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