I ran across the following on Medscape and present it verbatim here for those dealing with nausea/vomiting or peripheral neuropathy from treatment for oral cancer. These drugs have not traditionally been used to help with these side effects but might be worth talking with your doctor about if current treatments are not helping sufficiently. FYI.
"Olanzapine ( Zyprexa) for chemo-induced nausea and vomiting. Olanzapine, marketed as an antipsychotic drug, was shown to be an effective rescue medication for patients who were suffering from breakthrough chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), despite having received standard prophylactic treatment. In 80 of 205 patients who developed breakthrough CINV, olanzapine significantly outperformed the conventional anti-nausea drug metoclopramide. More patients in the olanzapine group than in the metoclopramide group reported no vomiting (71% vs 32%) and no nausea (67% vs 24%). The study was presented at the 2012 ASCO annual meeting, and so far is available only in abstract form ( J Clin Oncol. 2012;30(15 Suppl): abstract 9064).
Duloxetine ( Cymbalta) for chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy. Duloxetine is marketed as an antidepressant but is also approved for use in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. In a phase 3 trial, it was shown to be useful in alleviating pain from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). The trial involved 231 cancer patients who had been treated with oxaliplatin or paclitaxel and had developed CIPN, and duloxetine was associated with a greater average decrease in the pain score than placebo. These results are also available only in abstract form ( J Clin Oncol 2012;30(15 Suppl): abstract CRA9013)."
Source:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/776418?src=nldne
