2. Thalidomide in tumor cachexia
Oncologic cachexia, an advanced cancer syndrome characterized by anorexia, tissue depletion and weight loss, is a major challenge in the palliative care of advanced cancer.
Due to the short survival and poor quality of life of patients with advanced cancer, the number of subjects in clinical studies is small, and most studies have only evaluated the near-term efficacy and near-term adverse effects of thalidomide, so the long-term efficacy and long-term adverse effects of thalidomide in the treatment of oncologic cachexia still need to be explored in clinical trials with large sample sizes.
3. Adverse effects related to thalidomide treatment
Adverse reactions such as chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting can affect the efficacy of chemotherapy and reduce the quality of life of patients. Although neurokinin 1 receptor antagonists can significantly improve the adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting, their clinical application and promotion are difficult due to the patients' economic status and other reasons. Therefore, the search for a safe, effective and inexpensive drug to prevent and treat chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting has become an urgent clinical problem.
4. Conclusion
With the continuous development of basic and clinical research, the application of thalidomide in the treatment of common solid tumors has been expanding, and its clinical efficacy and safety have been recognized and provided new treatment strategies for patients. Thalidomide is also useful in the treatment of tumor cachexia and chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting. In the era of precision therapeutic medicine, it is important to screen the dominant population and tumor subtypes that are effective for thalidomide treatment and to find biomarkers that predict its efficacy and adverse effects.