Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), one of the most distressing chemotherapy-related adverse events (AEs), affects about 75% of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Antiemetic drugs are considered first-line treatments, while cannabinoids are considered an option to be used if other antiemetics fail. The cannabinoids used for CINV include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and analogs of THC. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first synthetic cannabinoid as a prescription drug for the treatment of CINV in 1986. [Note: Dronabinol, synthetic THC (Marinol) was approved in 1986, not 1985 as the text states, as a schedule II drug. In 1999, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) transferred it from schedule II to schedule III. Non-synthetic THC (i.e., the kind in the plant) remains a DEA schedule I drug (no medical use).] In this overview, the authors summarize evidence from and critique the quality of published systematic reviews (SRs) of cannabinoids in CINV.

CINAHL, Cochrane Database…