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Olanzapine Improves Weight Gain in Patients with Advanced Cancer on Chemotherapy
Patients with advanced cancer often present with anorexia and weight loss. Poor nutritional status is associated with myriad adverse outcomes in this population. Medical management options have been limited, although corticosteroids and progesterone analogs (e.g., megestrol acetate) are commonly used. These investigators evaluated olanzapine — an antipsychotic agent that increases appetite and decreases nausea — for the treatment of chemotherapy-related anorexia in patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric, hepatopancreaticobiliary, or lung cancer.
In the randomized, double-blind study, 124 adult patients received olanzapine (2.5 mg daily) or placebo for 12 weeks, starting on the first day of the first chemotherapy cycle. A significantly higher percentage of patients in the olanzapine arm than the placebo arm had weight gain >5% (60% vs. 9%; P<.001) and improved appetite (43% vs. 13%; P<.001) — the primary outcomes. The olanzapine arm also had significantly improved quality of life and nutritional status, as well as less chemotoxicity ≥ grade 3 (12% vs. 37%; P=.002). Adverse events attributable to olanzapine included mild, limited drowsiness.
Comment
This study fills an important gap in the literature, helping clinicians better support patients with advanced cancer who have cancer-associated weight loss and anorexia.
As noted in a recent ASCO Guideline Rapid Recommendation Update on cancer cachexia, daily low-dose olanzapine should be offered to patients with advanced cancer to support appetite and weight gain, along with nutritional support (J Clin Oncol 2023; 41:4178). For patients unable to tolerate olanzapine, a short-term trial of a corticosteroid or progesterone analog may be considered. Although the Update applies to all adult patients with advanced cancer, the majority of evidence derives from patients with gastrointestinal or lung malignancies and those receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.
The use of mirtazapine for cancer-associated weight loss and anorexia should be limited, as a recent study found it to be no better than placebo (J Pain Symptom Manage 2021; 62:1207). Importantly, there are no FDA-approved medications for cancer cachexia.
Citation(s)
Author:
Sandhya L et al.
Title:
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of olanzapine for chemotherapy-related anorexia in patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric, hepatopancreaticobiliary, and lung cancer.
Source:
J Clin Oncol
2023
May
10; [e-pub].
(Abstract/FREE Full Text)
Empfohlen von
Elizabeth Prsic, MD