A review of olanzapine as an antiemetic in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and in palliative care patients

Olanzapine for the Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting

“…19,20 A recent review, however, pointed to possible methodologic issues in these single-institution studies and called for well-planned, randomized, double-blind, multicenter studies to evaluate the role of olanzapine in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. 21 The primary objective of the current trial was to evaluate olanzapine, as compared with placebo, for the control of nausea in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, with nausea prevention assessed during three periods: 0 to 24 hours, 25 to 120 hours, and 0 to 120 hours after chemotherapy. Secondary objectives were to compare the two study groups for the number of patients with a complete response (no emesis and no rescue therapy) in the three periods, as well as to evaluate potential toxic effects of olanzapine.…”

Chronic Unexplained Nausea and Vomiting or Gastric Neuromuscular Dysfunction (GND)? An Update on Nomenclature, Pathophysiology and Treatment, and Relationship to Gastroparesis

“…Finally, olanzapine, a 5-HT 2 , 5-HT 3 , D2, M 1 , M 3 , H 1 , and alpha-2 receptor antagonist, has also been used for patients with nausea and vomiting; however, efficacy studies have only been performed in chemotherapy and palliative care trials. 18–20 …”

Efficacy of olanzapine in symptom relief and quality of life in gastric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

“…In the research of Navari et al . [23] conducted among the patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, 70% of patients receiving olanzapine compared to 31% of patients receiving metoclopramide had no emesis; in the review study of Fonte et al .,[7] it was concluded that in palliative care, olanzapine could control or reduce the intensity of N/V refractory to standard antiemetics. In advanced cancer patients, N/V is common and often undertreated problem.…”

“…In patients receiving chemotherapy, intense N/V may require dose reduction, treatment delay, or even permanent interruption. [67] In previous studies, it has been showed that despite the wide range use of antiemetic drugs, chemotherapy-induced N/V (CINV) continues to be reported by up to 70% of adult patients receiving moderately and highly emetogenic chemotherapy agents and 58% of school and adolescent age children receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy. [8] More common antiemetic agents for CINV prophylaxis include corticosteroids, serotonin receptor antagonists (5-HT3 RAs), tachykinin NK1 RAs, and olanzapine.…”

“…[6] Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic agent that blocks multiple neuronal receptors involved in the N/V pathways. [7] The efficacy and safety of this agent in preventing N/V, symptoms relief, and QOL improvement have been studied in several non-Iranian studies. [679101112131415] It has been investigated in previous studies that there are inter-individual differences in responses to chemotherapy, related to multiple factors such as genetic differences;[161718] therefore, this research was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of olanzapine in Iranian gastric patients receiving chemotherapy.…”