Paclitaxel(referred to hereinafter as PTX )is used in
ovarian cancer,
non-small cell lung cancer,
breast cancer,
gastric cancer, and
endometrial cancer with positive treatment result reports. However, severe
allergic reactions such as decreases in blood pressure and impaired breathing occur with relatively high frequency. For the prevention of such
allergic reactions, administration of a
premedication composed of the three components,
dexamethasone sodium phosphate injection,
diphenhydramine hydrochloride tablet, and
ranitidine hydrochloride injection
solution(or
injectable famodine), is advised in the appended documentation. Administration is difficult because, among these three components, only
diphenhydramine hydrochloride is administered orally and thus must be provided through the internal medicine department. Particularly when this combined dosage is administered as outpatient
chemotherapy, the doctor must prescribe
diphenhydramine hydrochloride tablets, and the patient must not forget to bring them on the day in which
chemotherapy is administered. Also, checks by the medical staff such as pharmacists and nurses are required, complicating the administration of this
therapy further. Taking this situation into consideration, our hospital uses a short-time
premedication method wherein d-
Chlorpheniramine Maleate injections are substituted for
diphenhydramine hydrochloride tablets, and the time required for
premedication is reduced to 15 minutes. This study investigated the
allergic reaction ratio to consider the safety and usefulness of the short-time
premedication method used at our hospital. The
chemotherapy regimens conducted for the subject patients were 9 cases of PTX+CBDCA, 6 cases of biweekly- PTX, and 5 cases of weekly-PTX. A total of 67 PTX
injections were given, 15 of them being first-time administrations. The ratio of allergic/
hypersensitivity reactions was 10.0%(2 cases in 20). The short-time
premedication method using d-
Chlorpheniramine Maleate injections did not display a significant difference from the conventional method used for prevention of allergic and
hypersensitivity reactions. Also, since this method of medication proves useful for is easy for the patient, reduces treatment time, is safe, economical, and helps reduce the workload of doctors, pharmacists, and nurses.