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Zofran Injection

Clinical Pharmacology
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Clinical Pharmacology

Cyclophosphamide-Based Chemotherapy: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of ZOFRAN Injection (three 0.15-mg/kg doses) in 20 patients receiving cyclophosphamide (500 to 600 mg/m2) chemotherapy, ZOFRAN Injection was significantly more effective than placebo in preventing nausea and vomiting. The results are summarized in Table 7.

Table 7. Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Single-Day Cyclophosphamide Therapy* in Adults


  ZOFRAN
Injection
Placebo P Value
Number of patients 10 10  
Treatment response      
0 Emetic episodes 7 (70%) 0 (0%) 0.001
1-2 Emetic episodes 0 (0%) 2 (20%)  
3-5 Emetic episodes 2 (20%) 4 (40%)  
More than 5 emetic episodes/rescued 1 (10%) 4 (40%) 0.131
Median number of emetic episodes 0 4 0.008
Median time to first emetic episode (h) Undefined 8.79  
Median nausea scores (0-100)§ 0 60 0.001
Global satisfaction with control of nausea and vomiting (0-100)|| 100 52 0.008
* Chemotherapy consisted of cyclophosphamide in all patients, plus other agents, including fluorouracil, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and vincristine. There was no difference between treatments in the type of chemotherapy that would account for differences in response.
Efficacy based on "all patients treated" analysis.
Median undefined since at least 50% of patients did not have any emetic episodes.
§ Visual analog scale assessment of nausea: 0 = no nausea, 100 = nausea as bad as it can be.
||Visual analog scale assessment of satisfaction: 0 = not at all satisfied, 100 = totally satisfied.

Re-treatment: In uncontrolled trials, 127 patients receiving cisplatin (median dose, 100 mg/m2) and ondansetron who had two or fewer emetic episodes were re-treated with ondansetron and chemotherapy, mainly cisplatin, for a total of 269 re-treatment courses (median, 2; range, 1 to 10). No emetic episodes occurred in 160 (59%), and two or fewer emetic episodes occurred in 217 (81%) re-treatment courses.

Pediatric Studies: Four open-label, noncomparative (one US, three foreign) trials have been performed with 209 pediatric cancer patients 4 to 18 years of age given a variety of cisplatin or noncisplatin regimens. In the three foreign trials, the initial ZOFRAN Injection dose ranged from 0.04 to 0.87 mg/kg for a total dose of 2.16 to 12 mg. This was followed by the oral administration of ondansetron ranging from 4 to 24 mg daily for 3 days. In the US trial, ZOFRAN was administered intravenously (only) in three doses of 0.15 mg/kg each for a total daily dose of 7.2 to 39 mg. In these studies, 58% of the 196 evaluable patients had a complete response (no emetic episodes) on day 1. Thus, prevention of vomiting in these pediatric patients was essentially the same as for patients older than 18 years of age.

An open-label, multicenter, noncomparative trial has been performed in 75 pediatric cancer patients 6 to 48 months of age receiving at least one moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapeutic agent. Fifty-seven percent (57%) were females; 67% were white, 18% were American Hispanic, and 15% were black patients. ZOFRAN was administered intravenously over 15 minutes in three doses of 0.15 mg/kg. The first dose was administered 30 minutes before the start of chemotherapy, the second and third doses were administered 4 and 8 hours after the first dose, respectively. Eighteen patients (25%) received routine prophylactic dexamethasone (i.e., not given as rescue). Of the 75 evaluable patients, 56% had a complete response (no emetic episodes) on day 1. Thus, prevention of vomiting in these pediatric patients was comparable to the prevention of vomiting in patients 4 years of age and older.

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
Brand Name: Zofran Injection
Generic Name: Ondansetron Hydrochloride Injection
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