[Anti-emetic treatment for patients with lung cancer after chemotherapy, and usefulness of prochlorperazine for psychiatric emesis].

Clinical study of cisplatin 80 mg/m2 and other agents was undertaken to determine whether they could prevent psychiatric emesis during chemotherapy in 50 patients with lung cancer. YG character tests revealed that 9 patients had a coupled rightward shift in N (nervous) and I (inferior complex) components, and were classified as emotionally unstable. In these 9 cases, addition of 15 mg prochlorperazine to the preventive combined administration of 3 mg granisetoron, 500 mg methylpredonisolon, and 40 mg metoclopramide decreased the post-chemotherapy psychiatric emesis from 100% in 3 control cases to 16.7% in 6 added cases. In the remaining 41 cases, the preventive combined administration alone was effective. The good control of acute emesis is the first priority in emotionally unstable patients. The addition of prochlorperazine might be a useful therapy for psychiatric emesis induced by anticancer agents in emotionally unstable patients.