研究人员制定了治疗癌症治疗副作用的指南

纽约，纽约，2001年5月—4月下旬，一个国际研究小组在哥伦比亚大学开会，他们正在制定广泛适用于使用抗恶心药物治疗癌症副作用的指南。缺乏实用的、明确的指导方针，导致许多医生使用繁琐或不太有效的策略。通常情况下，患者会因为这一目的而接受过多或过少的药物治疗。5月14日，在旧金山举行的美国临床肿瘤学会(ASCO)年会上，该研究小组公布了初步发现。用化疗治疗癌症会产生恶心和呕吐等副作用，这是患者最痛苦的。过去几年发表的研究报告指出了缓解这些问题的有效和简单的方法。但该研究小组主席、跨国癌症支持治疗协会主席理查德·j·格拉拉(Richard J. Gralla)医学博士说，许多患者并没有从这些发现中得到全部好处。Gralla博士也是哥伦比亚大学赫伯特·欧文综合癌症中心的临床研究主任。六个世界范围的组织已经制定了指导方针来帮助医生和护士预防这些副作用。每一组都很相似，但并不完全相同。 The role of this group was to try to pull these guidelines together” into one set of straightforward, accurate guidelines that work for most patients, Dr. Gralla explained. The group also aims to develop ways to make the guidelines internationally available using web pages, translations, or pocket cards. This way, “any doctor or nurse around the world would be able to use this easily, to get the maximum potential benefit,” said Dr. Gralla. At the ASCO meeting, the researchers will present preliminary information on the guidelines under development. The group plans to report that several anti-nausea and anti-vomiting medications, used properly, are particularly effective. These can usually be taken in a one-time dose of pills on the day of chemotherapy, Dr. Gralla said. “That is very different from the standard practice even a few years ago,” when doctors usually prescribe medications intravenously and several times daily, he explained. Taking oral medications regularly for a few days after chemotherapy also usually prevents another problem called delayed nausea. The three medicines that most effectively control the side effects are dolasetron (trade name Anzemet), granisetron (Kytril) and ondansetron (Zofran). These work best when given in combination with dexamethasone, a drug related to the hormone cortisone. The research effort, chaired and organized by Columbia and supported by the Multinational Association for Supportive Care of Cancer, is unusual in that it’s collaboration of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists from institutions in the United States, Canada and Europe.

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