A trial of the synthetic cannabinoid ART27.13 to stimulate appetite in patients with cancer anorexia and weight loss

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Daunt ◽  
Steven Reich
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
khodayar oshvandi ◽  
Seyed Yaser Vafaei ◽  
Seyed Ramesh Kamallan ◽  
Salman Khazaei ◽  
Hossein Ranjbar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Oral mucositis is one of the most emerging and debilitating complications of chemotherapy during the treatment period, which strongly affects the nutritional status and physical and mental condition of these patients. Zinc can efficiently prevent and treat oral mucositis and promote oral health due to its increased protein synthesis and improved cell membrane stability and membrane wound healing. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of zinc chloride mouthwash on the prevention, incidence, and severity of oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.Methods: The present study was a randomized control trial study.96 patients with a cancer diagnosis selected from one oncology clinic affiliated to the University of Medical Sciences in western Iran. Then they assigned randomly to the zinc chloride group and placebo group. The patients in each group should rinse their mouths every 8 hours two times and each time 2 min with 7.5 ml from mouthwash. The severity of mucositis and weight loss examined blindly at the baseline and 3-week follow-up.Results: The incidence and severity of oral mucositis between groups was significant at the end of the first (p < 0.026), second (p < 0.002) and third (p < 0.001) week. The mucositis severity controlled welly during the third weeks in the zinc chloride group. The difference in the weight loss was significant between the zinc chloride and the placebo group (p < 0.01).Conclusion: Zinc chloride mouthwash was effective in preventing and reducing the severity of oral mucositis and improving weight in these patients, and can be recommended for patients undergoing chemotherapy.Trial registration: We can therefore recommend zinc chloride as preventive care at the beginning of chemotherapy to improve oral health and subsequently preventing weight loss in these patients.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
J. F. L.

Thalidomide, the drug responsible for the deformities of thousands of babies born in the 1950s, appears to be making a comeback. Scientists have recently reported that the sedative, once widely prescribed in Europe for morning sickness but long since banned for such use, may inhibit the AIDS virus as well as alleviate certain symptoms associated with tuberculosis and cancer. The first American patent for thalidomide was issued in 1958, but last week Gilla Kaplan, an associate professor of immunology at Rockefeller University who pioneered the new thalidomide research, received a patent covering new potential applications for the drug. "Thalidomide is really the treatment of choice for leprosy," she said. "It alleviates the weight loss and fevers. I figured if I knew how thalidomide worked I would understand what is causing the symptoms." "... thalidomide slows the body's production of a substance known as tumor necrosis factor alpha, a protein that at normal levels actually helps combat infection and malignant cells. But high concentrations of the protein appear to result in fever, weight loss, and other symptoms in patients with cancer, tuberculosis, and AIDS.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1539-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Martin ◽  
Laura Birdsell ◽  
Neil MacDonald ◽  
Tony Reiman ◽  
M. Thomas Clandinin ◽  
...  

Purpose Emerging evidence suggests muscle depletion predicts survival of patients with cancer. Patients and Methods At a cancer center in Alberta, Canada, consecutive patients with cancer (lung or GI; N = 1,473) were assessed at presentation for weight loss history, lumbar skeletal muscle index, and mean muscle attenuation (Hounsfield units) by computed tomography (CT). Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Concordance (c) statistics were used to test predictive accuracy of survival models. Results Body mass index (BMI) distribution was 17% obese, 35% overweight, 36% normal weight, and 12% underweight. Patients in all BMI categories varied widely in weight loss, muscle index, and muscle attenuation. Thresholds defining associations between these three variables and survival were determined using optimal stratification. High weight loss, low muscle index, and low muscle attenuation were independently prognostic of survival. A survival model containing conventional covariates (cancer diagnosis, stage, age, performance status) gave a c statistic of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.79), whereas a model ignoring conventional variables and including only BMI, weight loss, muscle index, and muscle attenuation gave a c statistic of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.88 to 0.95; P < .001). Patients who possessed all three of these poor prognostic variables survived 8.4 months (95% CI, 6.5 to 10.3), regardless of whether they presented as obese, overweight, normal weight, or underweight, in contrast to patients who had none of these features, who survived 28.4 months (95% CI, 24.2 to 32.6; P < .001). Conclusion CT images reveal otherwise occult muscle depletion. Patients with cancer who are cachexic by the conventional criterion (involuntary weight loss) and by two additional criteria (muscle depletion and low muscle attenuation) share a poor prognosis, regardless of overall body weight.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 1271-1276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egidio Del Fabbro ◽  
Rony Dev ◽  
David Hui ◽  
Lynn Palmer ◽  
Eduardo Bruera

Purpose Prior studies have suggested that melatonin, a frequently used integrative medicine, can attenuate weight loss, anorexia, and fatigue in patients with cancer. These studies were limited by a lack of blinding and absence of placebo controls. The primary purpose of this study was to compare melatonin with placebo for appetite improvement in patients with cancer cachexia. Patients and Methods We performed a randomized, double-blind, 28-day trial of melatonin 20 mg versus placebo in patients with advanced lung or GI cancer, appetite scores ≥ 4 on a 0 to 10 scale (10 = worst appetite), and history of weight loss ≥ 5%. Assessments included weight, symptoms by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, and quality of life by the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) questionnaire. Differences between groups from baseline to day 28 were analyzed using one-sided, two-sample t tests or Wilcoxon two-sample tests. Interim analysis halfway through the trial had a Lan-DeMets monitoring boundary with an O'Brien-Fleming stopping rule. Decision boundaries were to accept the null hypothesis of futility if the test statistic z < 0.39 (P ≥ .348) and reject the null hypothesis if z > 2.54 (P ≤ .0056). Results After interim analysis of 48 patients, the study was closed for futility. There were no significant differences between groups for appetite (P = .78) or other symptoms, weight (P = .17), FAACT score (P = .95), toxicity, or survival from baseline to day 28. Conclusion In cachectic patients with advanced cancer, oral melatonin 20 mg at night did not improve appetite, weight, or quality of life compared with placebo.


Cancer ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2183-2188 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. A. Fields ◽  
S. Cheema-Dhadli ◽  
S. L. Wolman ◽  
M. L. Halperin

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