Conditioned nausea and further side-effects in cancer chemotherapy:: A review

The aim of chemotherapeutic tumor therapy is the complete elimination of malignant cells. Chemotherapeutic drugs inhibit cell proliferation, i. e., they have cytostatic qualities. But they also lead to cytolysis, thus having cytotoxic properties. Patients receiving chemotherapy often experience nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, and immunomodulation. These side-effects not only occur after delivery of the drugs. Patients also complain about nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss prior to a chemotherapy-session. There are also preliminary data showing anticipatory immunomodulation. The Following paper reviews these behavioral side-effects with the emphasis on nausea and vomiting. In addition to previously published papers, the relationship between the different conditioned side-effects (anticipatory nausea and vomiting [ANV], learned Food aversion [LFA], and anticipatory immunomodulation [AIM]) is analyzed, and results on conditioned emotional distress are summarized. Possible physiological and endocrine mediators of unconditioned and conditioned side-effects are reviewed and research strategies For further studies are discussed.