Olanzapine Versus Megestrol Acetate for the Treatment of Loss of Appetite Among Advanced Cancer Patients

The primary and secondary objectives of the study: PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To determine whether olanzapine leads to greater appetite improvement from baseline in cancer patients suffering from anorexia compared to megestrol acetate using the 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS). SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine whether olanzapine leads to a greater proportion of patients who report a 5% or greater weight gain from baseline compared to megestrol acetate. II. To compare change in cachexia/anorexia symptoms with olanzapine compared to megestrol acetate using the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Treatment (FAACT)-Anorexia/Cachexia Subscale (A/CS) instrument. OUTLINE: Patient are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM I: Patients receive olanzapine orally (PO) once daily (QD) for up to 4 weeks in the absence of consent withdrawal or unacceptable toxicity. ARM II: Patients receive megestrol acetate PO QD for up to 4 weeks in the absence of consent withdrawal or unacceptable toxicity.