Nutrition and Pharmacological Algorithm for Oncology Patients Study

Phase 4

Terminated

Conditions: Quality of Life
Pancreatic Cancer
Nutrition Poor
Head and Neck Cancer
Lung Cancer
Oncologic Complications

Interventions: Behavioral: Nutrition Intervention
Drug: Dexamethasone
Drug: Dronabinol
Drug: Mirtazapine

Brief Summary: Loss of appetite is a common symptom of patients with cancer and can cause distress which impacts patients and caregivers. Patients diagnosed with head/neck, lung or pancreatic cancer will be recruited for this study to decrease the suffering and distress associated with eating during cancer treatment and improve the quality of life of patients by implementing an algorithm utilizing nutrition intervention and appetite stimulants.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Patients with a diagnosis of head/neck, lung, pancreatic cancer, or metastatic cancer from any solid tumor
Planned, ongoing, or recently treated patient (within the past 30 days) with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and/or intravenous targeted biologic therapy
No previous use of appetite stimulants
All patients must sign study specific informed consent prior to being included in the study
No contraindication to appetite stimulants

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Patients with fair to good appetite	Nutrition Intervention	The patients with fair-good appetite (score on CNAQ more than 24) will not receive any pharmacological agents and will receive nutrition intervention alone. CNAQ = Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire
Patients with poor to fair appetite	Nutrition Intervention	The patients with poor-fair appetite (score on CNAQ less than 24) will be provided nutrition intervention by the Registered Dietitian and then put into one of three pharmacological groups. CNAQ = Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire
Patients with poor to fair appetite	Dexamethasone	The patients with poor-fair appetite (score on CNAQ less than 24) will be provided nutrition intervention by the Registered Dietitian and then put into one of three pharmacological groups. CNAQ = Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire
Patients with poor to fair appetite	Dronabinol	The patients with poor-fair appetite (score on CNAQ less than 24) will be provided nutrition intervention by the Registered Dietitian and then put into one of three pharmacological groups. CNAQ = Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire
Patients with poor to fair appetite	Mirtazapine	The patients with poor-fair appetite (score on CNAQ less than 24) will be provided nutrition intervention by the Registered Dietitian and then put into one of three pharmacological groups. CNAQ = Council on Nutrition Appetite Questionnaire

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quality of Life Assessment	3 months	The primary outcome of this study is assessing the impact on quality of life for the oncology patients by using an algorithm for nutrition intervention and appetite stimulants through utilizing Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General Population (FACT-GP).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quality of Life/Appetite Assessment	3 months	The secondary outcome of this study is assessing the impact on quality of life/appetite for the oncology patients by using an algorithm for nutrition intervention and appetite stimulants through utilizing the Council of Nutrition appetite questionnaire.