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Individual Variation
There is considerable
individual variation in cancer patients' response to chemotherapy
drugs, which complicates research and treatment protocols. Some
individual characteristics linked to variability are:
- The
consistent finding that younger patients have more nausea and
vomiting than elderly patients;
- Female
patients experience more nausea/vomiting than males; and
- Patients expecting
to experience treatment-related nausea report greater nausea
than patients not expecting nausea.
Identification of patients
at higher risk for the development and expression of chemotherapy-induced
nausea would have both theoretical and practical benefits:
- Theoretical benefit:
provides clues to potential mechanisms.
- Practical clinical
benefit: greater patient comfort and compliance.
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