DELAYED CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED NAUSEA IS AUGMENTED BY HIGH-LEVELS OF ENDOGENOUS NORADRENALINE

The relation between pretreatment night-time urinary catecholamine exc retion and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting was studied. The f irst cohort included 17 women and three men with various cancer forms receiving low or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. The second cohort included 42 women receiving cisplatinum (50 mg m(-2)) for ovarian can cer and ondansetron as an antiemetic (8 mg i.v. x 3 at chemotherapy an d 8 mg p.o. x 3 for 5 days). Relatively higher noradrenaline, but not adrenaline, excretion was associated with an increased intensity of de layed nausea following treatment. Vomiting was not consistently relate d to the excretion of either catecholamine. The results indicate that noradrenaline modulates delayed nausea resulting from chemotherapy.