Amelie Harle, an oncologist at Christie Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, discusses the possibility of using aprepitant (Emend) to treat cough in patients with lung cancer. 

Harle said that there are few, if any, evidence-based treatments to treat cough for these patients, so she did a study involving 20 people with lung cancer. She noticed that aprepitant did, in fact, reduce cough frequency because it targets the NK-1 pathway, which, in animal studies, was proven to effect cough.

Since her study was small, Harle said that the next step would be a larger and longer study, with two groups of patients: one receiving aprepitant, and the other receiving a placebo to see the true effectiveness of the drug. 

Articles

Amelie Harle on Aprepitant's Effectiveness  in Treating Cough in Lung Cancer

Amelie Harle, MD, PhD, an oncologist at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, discusses future tests to determine the efficacy of aprepitant (Emend) in reducing cough in patients with lung cancer.

In a recent, small study involving 20 participants, Harle and other researchers explored the NK-1 pathway and found that aprepitant significantly reduced cough in patients with lung cancer. Harle used a crossover design for the study, which allowed each patient to act as their own control.

Larger studies with parallel groups where patients receiving aprepitant are compared to patients receiving placebo are needed, Harle says. The treatment also needs to be administered for a longer period of time in future studies. In Harle’s study, aprepitant was given to patients using the same dose and duration as it would have been for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Amelie Harle, MD, PhD, an oncologist at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, discusses future tests to determine the efficacy of aprepitant (Emend) in reducing cough in patients with lung cancer. 

Amelie Harle on Future Tests of Aprepitant for Cough

Amelie Harle, MD, PhD, an oncologist at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, discusses aprepitant (Emend) to reduce cough in patients with lung cancer. 

In a recent study, Harle and other researchers explored the NK-1 pathway, which has shown to be relevant to cough in five different species of animals. Centrally acting NK-1 antagonists had not previously been tested as novel antitussive agents in humans.

Cough was measured using recordings as well as questionairres, and findings showed that aprepitant significantly reduced cough in patients with lung cancer. 

Amelie Harle, MD, PhD

Articles

Amelie Harle on Aprepitant's Effectiveness in Treating Cough in Lung Cancer

Amelie Harle on Future Tests of Aprepitant for Cough

Amelie Harle Discusses Aprepitant for Cough in Lung Cancer