What is "palonosetron"

n. A drug used in the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Palonosetron ( INN, trade name Aloxi) is a 5-HT antagonist used in the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). It is used for the control of delayed CINV—nausea and vomiting and there are tentative data to suggest that it may be more effective than granisetron.

Palonosetron is administered intravenously, as a single dose, 30 minutes before chemotherapy, or as a single oral capsule one hour before chemotherapy. The oral formulation was approved on August 22, 2008 for prevention of acute CINV alone, as a large clinical trial did not show oral administration to be as effective as intravenous use against delayed CINV.

The oral combination netupitant/palonosetron is approved for both acute and delayed CINV.