A cheap old tablet to restore appetite
A low dose of an old, inexpensive tablet improved appetite and weight in a randomised trial of people with advanced cancer. It could be used almost everywhere tomorrow.
Low-dose olanzapine, at 2.5 mg daily, improved appetite, weight gain and quality of life versus placebo in a randomised trial in patients with advanced gastrointestinal and lung cancer receiving chemotherapy, conducted at Tata Memorial. The drug is generic, oral, off-patent and already used for chemotherapy-induced nausea, so implementation requires guideline change rather than development.
- Cachexia, toxicity and the limits of the patient · Patients often die of wasting or cannot tolerate the doses that would work. Treating the patient, not just the tumour, lags far behind.
- No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs · Old, cheap drugs with anti-cancer signals never get the trials they need because no one profits from the result.
- Most of the world has almost no cancer care · Seven in ten cancer deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, where radiotherapy, pathology, surgery and drugs are scarce.
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaConfirm low-dose olanzapine for appetite and weight in advanced cancer worldwide
Shares Low-dose olanzapine for cancer anorexia (Tata Memorial), Tata Memorial Centre, Cachexia, toxicity and the limits of the patient, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs.
- IdeaGet the one approved appetite drug licensed beyond a single country
Shares Cachexia pharmacotherapy: GDF-15 blockade, anamorelin, olanzapine, Cachexia, toxicity and the limits of the patient, Most of the world has almost no cancer care, Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer.
- IdeaA guideline fast track for repurposed drugs with phase 3 evidence but no manufacturer
Shares ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines & MCBS, NCCN Guidelines, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs.
- IdeaTreat cachexia as a disease: GDF-15 blockade plus anabolic and nutrition bundles
Shares Cachexia pharmacotherapy: GDF-15 blockade, anamorelin, olanzapine, Cachexia, toxicity and the limits of the patient, Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer, Non-small-cell lung cancer.
- IdeaPivotal trials include sites in Africa, South Asia and Latin America, sponsor-funded
Shares Sudeep Gupta, Tata Memorial Centre, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.
- IdeaValidate low-cost metronomic oral regimens in phase 3 and carry them into guidelines
Shares Tata Memorial Centre, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.
- TrialAdd-Aspirin
Shares Tata Memorial Centre, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs, Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer, Colorectal cancer.
- IdeaA platform trial of very-low-cost metronomic chemotherapy in LMIC common cancers
Shares Tata Memorial Centre, No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.