Efficacy of Ginger in Ameliorating Acute and Delayed Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting Among Patients With Lung Cancer Receiving Cisplatin-Based Regimens: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Nausea and vomiting are among the most common and distressing side effects of chemotherapy. Additional antiemetic drugs are urgently needed to effectively manage and ameliorate chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). The efficacy of ginger as an antiemetic modality for ameliorating CINV has not been established in previous studies. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of ginger, as an adjuvant drug to standard antiemetic therapy, in ameliorating acute and delayed CINV in patients with lung cancer receiving cisplatin-based regimens. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 140 patients with lung cancer receiving cisplatin-based regimens were enrolled and allocated to receive either ginger root powder or a placebo. Ginger root powder was administered orally (0.5 g, 2 capsules per day, 0.25 g per capsule, every 12 hours) for 5 days beginning on the first day of chemotherapy. The incidence and severity of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting were assessed using the MASCC (Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer) Antiemesis Tool (MAT). Adverse effects and patient adherence were also assessed in this study. No significant difference was observed between the ginger and control groups in the reduction of the incidence and severity of nausea and vomiting (P > .05). No significant difference in adverse events was observed between the 2 groups (P > .05). No study-treatment-related adverse events were observed in this study. As an adjuvant drug to standard antiemetic therapy, ginger had no additional efficacy in ameliorating CINV in patients with lung cancer receiving cisplatin-based regimens.

Ginger on Human Health: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of 109 Randomized Controlled Trials

“…For example, in a study by Vladimir et al, the ginger-treated group and the diclofenac-treated group received different formulations of drugs, which might have provided information about allocation with high probability [71]. Finally, only eight studies were judged as having low risks for every type of bias based on the Cochrane Collaboration's quality assessment tool [14,18,20,28,29,31,45,55]. Regarding the reporting quality of essential functions, 43 RCTs out of 109 (39.4%) reported a high quality of evidence.…”

“…Furthermore, ginger effectively reduced acute and delayed CINV in both children and adults [56,57]. On the other hand, Thamlikitkul et al and Li et al concluded that ginger showed an insufficient effect on the prophylaxis of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting induced by an Adriamycin-cyclophosphamide regimen and a cisplatin regimen, respectively, which are highly emetogenic regimens [19,20].…”

Ameliorating effects and mechanisms of chronic electroacupuncture at ST36 in a rodent model of dyspepsia induced by cisplatin

“…Cisplatin is a widely used chemotherapy for treating various kinds of cancers and belongs to highest emetic agents . It has been reported that cisplatin induced acute, delayed, and chronic pica. Moreover, cisplatin also induces anorexia, weight loss, fatigue, and dyspepsia …”

“…Cisplatin is one of the most commonly used drugs in chemotherapy. It is also extremely strong in inducing acute, delayed, and chronic nausea and vomiting, poor appetite, and the loss of body weight in humans and rats. Therefore, we studied dyspepsia induced by cisplatin in a rodent model in our study.…”

Benefits of ginger in the control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

“…Regarding the influence of this intervention on the control of nausea and vomiting in the acute phase, 11 publications were detected that analyzed nausea in the acute phase (15)(16)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) , among which 8 (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) detected advantages, but only 6 investigations had statistically significant results with p < 5% (p = 0.002 (23) ; p = 0.0001 (24) ; p = 0.04 (26) ; p = 0.0003 (27) , p = 0.003 (29)(30) ). Regarding emesis, 8 studies analyzed the acute stage (14,18,(21)(22)24,(27)(28)34) ; of these, 6 (19,23,25,28,34) observed the therapeutic effect of ginger, but only 2 had significant results considering significance level of 5% (p = 0.002 (29) ; p = 0.04 (35) ). Regarding the influence on the control of nausea and vomiting in the delayed phase, 6 studies (15)(16)(22)(23)(28)…”