Mirtazapine versus megestrol acetate in treatment of anorexia-cachexia in advanced cancer patients: a randomized, double-blind trial.
Jpn J Clin Oncol
; 54(5): 530-536, 2024 May 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38323684
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Cancer-related anorexia-cachexia comprises one of the most common syndromes of advanced cancer patients. The management of cancer-related anorexia-cachexia is a great challenge in clinical practice. There are no definite practice guidelines yet for the prevention and treatment of cancer-related anorexia-cachexia. This study is considered to find out whether there is any role of mirtazapine in the improvement of anorexia in cancer patients.METHODS:
A total of 80 cancer-anorexia patients were enrolled. Patients in the trial arm received the standard chemotherapy medication plus one tablet of mirtazapine 15 mg daily at night orally for 8 weeks starting from the day of an initial assessment. The control arm received the standard chemotherapy medication plus one tablet of megestrol acetate 160 mg daily orally for 8 weeks starting from the day of an initial assessment. Each patient was assessed by validated versions of Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy Anorexia/Cachexia Sub Scale v 4 questionnaires.RESULTS:
After 4 and 8 weeks each patient was evaluated again using the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy Anorexia/Cachexia Sub Scale tool. The quality of life of each patient was assessed by European Organization for Research and Treatment QLQ-C30 v 3.0. After 4 to 8 weeks of treatment, the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy Anorexia/Cachexia Sub Scale score in cancer anorexia patients in the mirtazapine improved anorexia significantly. However, the improvement after 4 to 8 weeks was not statistically significant when it was compared with the megestrol acetate (P > 0.05).CONCLUSIONS:
Therefore, the findings of this study reveal that mirtazapine might be a potential alternative to megestrol acetate, as it has shown potential efficacy as like as megestrol acetate.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Qualidade de Vida
/
Caquexia
/
Anorexia
/
Acetato de Megestrol
/
Mirtazapina
/
Neoplasias
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article