on (N = 327) had a mean age of 8.3 years (range 2 months to 16.9 years) and were 53% male; and 96% white. Patients were randomized and received a 20 mcg/kg (maximum 1.5 mg) intravenous infusion of ALOXI 30 minutes prior to the start of emetogenic chemotherapy (followed by placebo infusions 4 and 8 hours after the dose of palonosetron) or 0.15 mg/kg of intravenous ondansetron 30 minutes prior to the start of emetogenic chemotherapy (followed by ondansetron 0.15 mg/kg infusions 4 and 8 hours after the first dose of ondansetron, with a maximum total dose of 32 mg). Emetogenic chemotherapies administered included doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide (<1500 mg/m2), ifosfamide, cisplatin, dactinomycin, carboplatin, and daunorubicin. Adjuvant corticosteroids, including dexamethasone, were administered with chemotherapy in 55% of patients.
Complete Response in the acute phase of the first cycle of chemotherapy was defined as no vomiting, no retching, and no rescue medication in the first 24 hours after starting chemotherapy. Efficacy was based on demonstrating non-inferiority of intravenous palonosetron compared to intravenous ondansetron. Non-inferiority criteria were met if the lower bound of the 97.5% confidence interval for the difference in Complete Response rates of intravenous palonosetron minus intravenous ondansetron was larger than -15%. The non-inferiority margin was 15%.
Efficacy Results
As shown in Table 7, intravenous ALOXI 20 mcg/kg (maximum 1.5 mg) demonstrated non-inferiority to the active comparator during the 0 to 24 hour time interval.
Table 7: Prevention of Acute Nausea and Vomiting (0-24 hours): Complete Response Rates I.V. ALOXI
20 mcg/kg
(N=165) I.V. Ondansetron
0.15 mg/kg x 3
(N=162) Difference [97.5%
Confidence Interval]*: I.V.
ALOXI minus I.V.
Ondansetron Comparator
59.4% 58.6% 0.36% [-11.7%, 12.4%]
* To adjust for multiplicity of treatment groups, a lower-bound of a 97.5% confidence interval was used to compare to -15%, the negative value of the non-inferiority margin.
In patients that received ALOXI at a lower dose than the recommended dose of 20 mcg/kg, non-inferiority criteria were not met.
14.3 Postoperative Nausea and VomitingIn one multicenter, randomized, stratified, double-blind, parallel-group, phase 3 clinical study (Study 1), palonosetron was compared with placebo for the prevention of PONV in 546 patients undergoing abdominal and gynecological surgery. All patients received general anesthesia. Study 1 was a pivotal study conducted predominantly in the US in the out-patient setting for patients undergoing elective gynecologic or abdominal laparoscopic surgery and stratified at randomization for the following risk factors: gender, non-smoking status, history of post operative nausea and vomiting and/or motion sickness.
In Study 1 patients were randomized to receive palonosetron 0.025 mg, 0.050 mg or 0.075 mg or placebo, each given intravenously immediately prior to induction of anesthesia. The antiemetic activity of palonosetron was eva luated during the 0 to 72 hour time period after surgery.
Of the 138 patients treated with 0.075 mg palonosetron in Study 1 and eva luated for efficacy, 96% were women; 66% had a history of PONV or motion sickness; 85% were non-smokers. As for race, 63% were White, 20% were Black, 15% were Hispanic, and 1% were Asian. The age of patients ranged from 21 to 74 years, with a mean age of 37.9 years. Three patients were gre |
