Klin Onkol 2002; 15(2): 67-71.
Summary:
Introduction: Oral suspension of megestrol acetate may be a useful appetite stimulant in patients with advanced cancer, where taking larger amount of pills may be unacceptable for a patient.
Design of the study: The authors evaluated in a prospective study the influence of oral suspension of megestrol acetate on quality of life and nutritional status in 19 patients with far advanced cancer, mostly of lung and gastrointestinal tract locations, all beyond the scope of anticancer treatment. Results: One daily dose of 480-840mg of megestrol acetate in oral suspension was well tolerated for up to 3 months of therapy. After one month, overall quality of life according to the QLQ-C30 questionnaire was improved in 60% of treated patients. Appetite was the most successfully influenced parameter with significant improvement by visual analogue scale after 14 days of therapy (p=0.0001) and this effect continued during further treatment. There was a trend to the increase of body weight by the median difference of +3.4 kg after 2 months, with 73% of patients having higher weights than prior therapy (non-significant). Serum cortisol levels were significantly decreased during megestrol acetate therapy which suggested induction of adrenal supression that could lead to hypocorticism either in stressed condition or after cessation of medication.
Conclusion: Oral suspension of megestrol acetate may be an effective palliative treatment for many patients with far advanced cancor suffering from anorexia/cachexia syndrome.
