Venkatraman Radhakrishnan, Consultant of Medical and Pediatric Oncology at Cancer Institute, Adyar, shared on LinkedIn:
”Delighted to share the publication of the CIVIC POD trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). The study was also featured in ASCO Daily News, highlighting its relevance to supportive care in pediatric oncology.
The CIVIC POD trial was an investigator-initiated study conceived and coordinated at the Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, and conducted through the India Pediatric Hematology Oncology Group (INPHOG) as a multicentre Phase III randomized clinical trial involving Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai; AIIMS, New Delhi; JIPMER, Puducherry; Apollo Hospital, New Delhi; Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi; and Kasturba Medical College, Manipal.
Conducting investigator-initiated randomized clinical trials in pediatric oncology is challenging and requires trust, commitment, and close collaboration across institutions. CIVIC POD is an example of what can be achieved when investigators work together to answer clinically important questions that directly affect the care of children with cancer.
The study evaluated whether dexamethasone could be safely omitted from antiemetic prophylaxis for children and adolescents receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy. We found that an olanzapine-based, dexamethasone-free regimen provided non-inferior control of chemotherapy-induced vomiting compared with the standard dexamethasone-containing regimen, supporting a steroid-sparing approach in appropriately selected patients.
This achievement belongs to every child and family who participated in the trial, and to the investigators, research coordinators, nurses, pharmacists, data managers, and support staff at all participating centers. Their dedication made this study possible.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to CanKids KidsCan for supporting this investigator-initiated trial. Their commitment to advancing childhood cancer care and fostering collaborative research has been instrumental in making studies like this possible.
My heartfelt thanks to all my co-authors (Prasanth Srinivasan, Gargi Das, Sameer Bakhshi, Amita Mahajan, Prasanth Ganesan, Balaji TK, Ramandeep Arora, Swathi PM, Swaminathan Keerthivasagam, and Swaminathan Rajaraman), collaborators, and colleagues across the INPHOG network. I hope this work contributes to future pediatric antiemetic guidelines and, more importantly, encourages more investigator-initiated, multicentre pediatric oncology trials from India.
ASCO Daily News feature: CIVIC POD featured in ASCO Daily News.”
Title: Dexamethasone-Free Antiemetic Prophylaxis for Children and Adolescents Receiving Highly Emetogenic Chemotherapy: A Multicenter, Phase III, Noninferiority Trial (CIVIC POD)
Authors: Venkatraman Radhakrishnan, Prasanth Srinivasan, Gargi Das, Sameer Bakhshi, Amita Mahajan, Prasanth Ganesan, Balaji Thiruvengadam Kothandan, Ramandeep Singh Arora, Swathi Parmpalli Manjunath, Shuvadeep Ganguly, Deepam Pushpam, Minakshi Bansal, Swaminathan Keerthivasagam, Aparajita Sharma, Aastha Goel, Mubina Begum, Aleeza Khan, Swaminathan Rajaraman
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