EFFECT OF ZINGIBER OFFICINALE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NAUSEA AND VOMITING INDUCED BY CISPLATIN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Introduction: Chemotherapy with cisplatin in patients with cervical cancer interferes with quality of life due to nausea and vomiting and is difficult to control even with high-response antiemetic protocols. From this perspective, ginger, in experimental studies, has been shown to be safe to use and has an effect on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy of ginger in the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cervical cancer patients treated with cisplatin associated with radiotherapy. Methods: and analyses: This study is a triple-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial comparing the effects of adding two different concentrations of ginger to institutional antiemetic therapy (ondansetron with dexamethasone). Patients with a histological diagnosis of cervical cancer, without previous chemotherapy treatment with indication to start the use of cisplatin 40mg/m² associated with radiotherapy, aged over 18 years and with preserved capsular swallowing capacity and equally allocated (1:1:1) in 3 groups of 16 patients each (the 250 mg ginger capsules group, the 500 g ginger capsules group and the placebo group). Results: The group that took ginger 250mg had an 8.0% greater chance of feeling nausea in the 24 hours after the chemotherapy infusion than the placebo group (p-value = 0.92986). In contrast, the group that took 500mg of ginger had a 63.9% reduction in nausea under the same conditions (p-value = 0.40460). Regarding delayed nausea, no change was detected in the number of nausea during the six weeks (p-value = 0.8664) nor between the groups (p-value = 0.2817). Regarding acute vomiting, no change was detected during the six weeks (p-value = 0.3510) or between groups (p-value = 0.8500). The same can be said for late vomiting, in which there were no changes during the six weeks (p-value = 0.5389) or between the three groups (p-value = 0.5571). Conclusion: Ginger supplementation reduces the frequency and intensity of nausea and vomiting in both acute and delayed forms. Trial registration number: Registered with Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (REBEC) under number RBR-47yx6p9.