To determine effects of ginger on reducing the severity of nausea and/or vomiting among gynecologic cancer patients receiving a combined carboplatin-paclitaxel regimen.

The research was a randomized, double-blinded, crossover, placebo-controlled trial. Participants were patients with gynecologic malignancies receiving carboplatin-paclitaxel chemotherapy at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Either ginger (2 g per day) or placebo was prescribed in adjunct to standard antiemetic prophylaxis, in alternated cycles between groups: in group 1, ginger was prescribed in odd cycles and placebo in even cycles and vice versa in group 2. Patients with gut obstruction or brain or bowel metastasis, those using anticoagulants or other ginger or antiemetic medications, or patients who had ginger allergy were excluded from the study. Statistics were analyzed by STATA version 15.1.

Overall, 47 participants were recruited. Mean age was 53.9 years. Seventeen subjects were chemotherapy-naïve. In an acute phase of nausea, ginger therapy significantly reduced the mean nausea score comparing to placebo (P = 0.03). However, in the delayed phase, there were no significant differences between groups. For the acute and delayed phase of vomiting, there was no difference between the groups. No serious adverse effects were demonstrated in the ginger group (P > 0.05).

Adjunct ginger therapy on standard nausea and vomiting prophylaxis protocol especially in day 1 has benefit in reducing an acute phase nausea in patients receiving a combined carboplatin-paclitaxel regimen. The benefit on delayed phase nausea and vomiting is still equivocal.