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Olanzapine for the Treatment of Chronic Nausea and/or Vomiting in Advanced Cancer Patients

Olanzapine for the Treatment of Chronic Nausea and/or Vomiting, Unrelated to Chemotherapy or Radiation, in Advanced Cancer Patient - A Pilot, Dose-Finding Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03137121
Enrollment
30
Registered
2017-05-02
Start date
2017-07-12
Completion date
2020-09-15
Last updated
2021-08-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Advanced Cancer

Keywords

nausea, vomiting, olanzapine

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of olanzapine for the treatment of cancer patients with chronic nausea and/or vomiting unrelated to chemotherapy or radiation in a randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial.

Detailed description

Patients with advanced cancer experience a variety of physical and psychosocial symptoms that significantly affect the patients' quality of life. Chronic nausea is a particularly distressing symptom present in \>60% of patients with advanced cancer. A number of palliative care studies have evaluated treatments of nausea with limited success. Olanzapine with its unique formulation and decreased drug interactions compared to many other drugs appears to be a reasonable candidate for further evaluation. Olanzapine has significant potential for use in the prevention and treatment of nausea in a palliative care setting with a once-daily dosing.

Interventions

DRUGOlanzapine

Olanzapine is used as an anti-emetic.

OTHERPlacebo

The placebo is a non-anti-emetic.

Sponsors

Mayo Clinic
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)

Masking description

Patients will receive the study drug or placebo in a double-blind fashion.

Intervention model description

There will be two groups for the study: Olanzapine Group will receive the study drug and Placebo Group will receive a placebo.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Be at least 18 years of age * Have histologically or cytologically-confirmed malignant disease in an advanced incurable stage * Have not received chemotherapy or radiation for \>14 days (advanced cancer patients receiving hormonal therapy or targeted therapy that does not come with a recommendation for prophylactic anti-emetic therapy are eligible) * Have chronic nausea that has been present for at least one week (worst daily score \>3, 0-10 visual analogue scale) or vomiting at least five times over past one week * Have serum creatinine \< 2.0 mg/dl and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) or serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) \< 3 times upper limits of normal ≤120 days prior to registration * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>1500 mm3 \<120 days prior to registration * Women of childbearing potential must consent to use adequate contraception throughout protocol therapy; females of childbearing potential must have a negative urine pregnancy test \<7 days prior to registration.

Exclusion criteria

* Not be receiving treatment with another antipsychotic agent such as risperidone, quetiapine, clozapine, phenothiazine or butyrophenone for less than or equal to 30 days prior to registration or planned during protocol therapy (patients may have received prochlorperazine and other phenothiazines as prior anti-emetic therapy) * Not have concurrent use of ethyol * Not have severe cognitive compromise * History of central nervous system (CNS) disease (e.g. brain metastases, seizure disorder) * Concurrent use of amifostine, concurrent abdominal radiotherapy; concurrent use of quinolone antibiotic therapy * Chronic alcoholism (as determined by the investigator) * Known hypersensitivity to olanzapine * Known cardiac arrhythmia, uncontrolled congestive heart failure or acute myocardial infarction within the previous six months * History of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (stable insulin dose and/or stable oral hypoglycemic agent permitted) * Planned chemotherapy or radiation during the 7 days following study initiation.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mean Nausea ScoresNausea score from the Visual Analogue Scale will be recorded each day daily for 7 days. An average value calculated will be reported for the 7 day period.Daily nausea scores (the primary objective) on day 1 to 7 of treatment for each patient from the Olanzapine and Placebo group will be measured using the Visual Analogue Scale rankings from 0-10 where 0 is no nausea and 10 is the maximum nausea experienced by a patient. A Visual Analogue Scale is a psychometric response scale which can be used in questionnaires. It is a measurement instrument for subjective characteristics or attitudes that can't be directly measured. Patients will be asked to record the average nausea score for each day in a diary and a study nurse will call the patient at the same time each day to remind the patient to record the nausea score and to inquire about any toxicities. The difference in the nausea scores for the patients in each group (Olanzapine and Placebo) will be compared.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of Emetic EpisodesNumber of emetic episodes for each patient on each day of the seven day treatment.The number of emetic episodes (a secondary outcome) by each patient in each group, Olanzapine & Placebo, on each day of treatment will be recorded by each patient on each day of treatment in a diary. A study nurse will contact each patient at the same time of each day of the study to ask the patient to record the number of emetic episodes and report any toxicities.The number of emetic episodes for the patients in each Group for each day of the treatment will be compared.
Number of Treatment-related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v4.0.Daily assessment for 7 days for each patient in Olanzapine & Placebo Groups.Adverse events will be measured by patient-reported outcomes questionnaires and the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v4.0). A study nurse will contact each patient each day of the seven days of treatment to inquire about any toxicities, specifically sedation and appetite. Sedation and appetite will be reported by the patient in each Group on a Visual Analogue Scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no sedation or no appetite to 10 indicating maximum sedation or maximum appetite.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Olanzapine
Patients will receive 5 mg olanzapine orally for 1 to 7 days daily. Olanzapine: Olanzapine is used as an anti-emetic.
15
Placebo
Patients will receive a placebo orally for 1 to 7 days daily. Placebo: The placebo is a non-anti-emetic.
15
Total30

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject01

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicOlanzapineTotalPlacebo
Age, Continuous63 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 9
62 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 7
60 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
15 Participants30 Participants15 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
5 Participants11 Participants6 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
10 Participants19 Participants9 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
15 participants30 participants15 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
8 Participants17 Participants9 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
7 Participants13 Participants6 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 150 / 14
other
Total, other adverse events
3 / 156 / 14
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 150 / 14

Outcome results

Primary

Mean Nausea Scores

Daily nausea scores (the primary objective) on day 1 to 7 of treatment for each patient from the Olanzapine and Placebo group will be measured using the Visual Analogue Scale rankings from 0-10 where 0 is no nausea and 10 is the maximum nausea experienced by a patient. A Visual Analogue Scale is a psychometric response scale which can be used in questionnaires. It is a measurement instrument for subjective characteristics or attitudes that can't be directly measured. Patients will be asked to record the average nausea score for each day in a diary and a study nurse will call the patient at the same time each day to remind the patient to record the nausea score and to inquire about any toxicities. The difference in the nausea scores for the patients in each group (Olanzapine and Placebo) will be compared.

Time frame: Nausea score from the Visual Analogue Scale will be recorded each day daily for 7 days. An average value calculated will be reported for the 7 day period.

Population: One patient withdrew on their own from the Placebo Group

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
OlanzapineMean Nausea Scores1 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 1
PlaceboMean Nausea Scores9 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 2
Secondary

Number of Emetic Episodes

The number of emetic episodes (a secondary outcome) by each patient in each group, Olanzapine & Placebo, on each day of treatment will be recorded by each patient on each day of treatment in a diary. A study nurse will contact each patient at the same time of each day of the study to ask the patient to record the number of emetic episodes and report any toxicities.The number of emetic episodes for the patients in each Group for each day of the treatment will be compared.

Time frame: Number of emetic episodes for each patient on each day of the seven day treatment.

Population: One patient withdrew from the Placebo Group.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (NUMBER)
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 30 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 50 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 20 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 60 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 40 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 70 episodes
OlanzapineNumber of Emetic Episodesday 13 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 73 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 13 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 23 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 33 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 43 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 53 episodes
PlaceboNumber of Emetic Episodesday 63 episodes
Secondary

Number of Treatment-related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v4.0.

Adverse events will be measured by patient-reported outcomes questionnaires and the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v4.0). A study nurse will contact each patient each day of the seven days of treatment to inquire about any toxicities, specifically sedation and appetite. Sedation and appetite will be reported by the patient in each Group on a Visual Analogue Scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no sedation or no appetite to 10 indicating maximum sedation or maximum appetite.

Time frame: Daily assessment for 7 days for each patient in Olanzapine & Placebo Groups.

Population: One patient withdrew from Placebo Group.

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
OlanzapineNumber of Treatment-related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v4.0.3 Events
PlaceboNumber of Treatment-related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v4.0.21 Events

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 18, 2026