446P - A single center experience of anamorelin in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Background

Patients with cancer often develop cachexia. There has been no clearly effective treatment for this condition. However, anamorelin is approved for the treatment of cancer cachexia associated with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective analysis of treatment efficacy, adverse events and background factors in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with anamorelin for cancer cachexia at our hospital from 1 April 2021 to 30 April 2023. Anamorelin effective cases were defined as those with improved performance status (PS) or appetite.

Results

A total of 68 patients were treated with anamorelin during the study period. The median age was 76.5 (59-92) years and the male patients were predominantly. Comorbidities included COPD (29.4%), interstitial pneumonia (22.1%). The clinical stage of lung cancer was stage 4 in 75.7% of patients. The median duration of anamorelin treatment was 36 (1-714) days. Anamorelin improved anorexia in 32 patients and PS in 21 patients. According to the definition of our study, there were 34 patients with anamorelin response and 34 patients without response. The patients with anamorelin response had a significantly longer duration of treatment (P<0.01) and significantly lower C-reactive protein (CRP) before treatment (P=0.04) compared to the patients without anamorelin response. The most common adverse events were nausea (14.7%), appetite loss (13.2%), hyperglycemia (11.8%) and liver damage (10.3%), respectively. Three patients experienced G3≤ adverse events. Fourteen (20.6%) patients discontinued anamorelin due to adverse events. The frequency of adverse events did not differ between the two groups.

Conclusions

Anamorelin improved appetite or PS in half of the patients in this retrospective study. In contrast, 14 (20.6 %) patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Anamorelin may be more effective in patients with lower CRP levels prior to treatment.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

T. Ito.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.