Research in context Evidence before this study We searched PubMed and Embase between January, 2004, and May, 2015, with the terms “CINV”, “NK-1”, “netupitant”, “aprepitant”, and “rolapitant”, with no language restrictions. Neurokinin-1 (NK-1) signalling pathways are involved in both the acute and delayed phases of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Current treatment guidelines recommend concurrent use of an NK-1 receptor antagonist and a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist and dexamethasone for prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Currently available NK-1 receptor antagonists (eg, aprepitant, netupitant) are inhibitors or inducers of CYP3A4, which could result in increased adverse events or necessitate dose adjustments of concomitant drugs. Added value of this study Rolapitant is a novel NK-1 receptor antagonist that binds with high affi nity to the human NK-1 receptor, maintaining more than 90% receptor binding up to 5 days after a 180 mg dose, consistent with its long half-life. Furthermore, the metabolic profi le of rolapitant indicates that it does not induce or inhibit
CYP3A4. We did two identically designed, randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trials to compare rolapitant with active control and found that rolapitant was safe and eff ective for prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting when combined with a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist and dexamethasone in patients with cancer who received cisplatin-based highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Implications of all the available evidence These two global studies show that one dose of oral rolapitant taken with a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist and dexamethasone before administration of chemotherapy provides protection for the entire at-risk period for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Rolapitant provides a longacting treatment option for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting for cisplatin-based highly emetogenic chemotherapy with little potential for clinically relevant CYP3A4-mediated drug–drug interactions. This simpler regimen could result in better overall cancer treatment adherence in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.