During the Saturday press conference at ESMO 2014, Professor David Currow describes results of Phase III data showing that a new drug, anamorelin, improves appetite and body mass in patients with advanced lung cancer, who are suffering cancer anorexia and cachexia.
In the ROMANA studies, patients with unresectable stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer with cachexia were randomized to receive either 100 mg anamorelin or placebo, given orally each day for 12 weeks.
For those patients taking anamorelin, lean body mass and body weight were significantly increased. Professor Currow mentions that patients did not experience improvements in their muscle strength, but looks forward to further studies that will measure longer-term outcomes.
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