Jan. 25, 2002
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Marijuana-based drug not effective for cancer appetite

ROCHESTER, MINN. -- Jan. 25, 2002 (Cancer Digest) -- A drug derived from marijuana is not as effective as a standard drug for curbing loss of appetite and weight in patients with advanced cancer, according to new study.

This first-of-its-kind, large multi-center study also found that there was no notable benefit when both drugs were given together.

The study, led by Dr. Aminah Jatoi, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) compared megestrol acetate, a standard drug for treating loss of appetite and weight in cancer patients, to dronabinol (brand name Marinol®), a drug derived from marijuana.

"Anecdotal reports and previous small studies suggested that marijuana and its derivatives stimulate appetite," Jatoi said in a press release. "Our study found that dronabinol, in the doses prescribed in this trial, doesn't hold up to standard treatment with megestrol acetate. These findings should dampen enthusiasm for using marijuana derivatives for this purpose."

The study results, published in this month's Journal of Clinical Oncology, involved 469 patients treated for all types of cancer at 20 cancer centers who were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups.

Results showed that 75 percent of the 159 patients in the study taking megestrol acetate reported appetite improvement compared to 49 percent of the 152 patients taking dronabinol reporting appetite improvement. Among the 158 who took both drugs, 66% reported an increase in appetite at some time during treatment.

More patients (11 percent) on megestrol acetate gained more than 10 percent of their baseline weight than those on dronabinal (3 percent).

Loss of appetite and weight is a major problem, affecting more than half of patients with advanced cancer. It's also an understudied problem.

"Nobody knows all of the factors that come into play as cancer patients lose weight," says Jatoi. "This study was an attempt to help cancer patients by finding some answers about what works and what doesn't work for those struggling with eating.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare a standard drug to a drug derived from marijuana in an effort to help cancer patients with this problem," she said.

Jatoi noted that megestrol acetate is not the complete answer to stimulating appetite and boosting weight in cancer patients and more research needs to be done to find better drugs.

"But at this time, we can say that megestrol acetate is more effective than dronabinol in the doses we tested," she said.