The preventive effect of the impaired liver function for antiemetic therapy against chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Transarterial chemoembolization and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy are recommended for the treatment in patients with intermediate stage of hepatocellular carcinoma. Impaired liver function was sometime observed in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization or hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy. However, what kinds of factors deeply influence in impaired liver function are not clear. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the risk factors of impaired liver function in cisplatin-naïve patients treated with these therapies using cisplatin. Prior to and 2 months after these therapies, we analyzed the liver function by Child-Pugh score in these patients. For assessing the severity of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, we utilized the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events ver. 4.0. In hepatocellular carcinoma patients received these therapies using cisplatin, the cancer stage and treatment without neurokinin-1 (NK(1)) antagonist were found to be independent risk factors of the impaired liver function. The treatment with NK(1) antagonist was effective in reducing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and patients treated with NK(1) antagonist kept their liver functions after cisplatin-used these therapies. The treatment with NK(1) antagonist was effective in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and prevented the impaired liver function associated with cisplatin-used these therapies in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.