Trial reportJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2023
Pilot clinical trial of macimorelin to assess safety and efficacy in patients with cancer cachexia.
Trial report in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01614990 (Pilot Clinical Trial of Repeated Doses of Macimorelin to Assess Safety and Efficacy in Patients With Cancer Cachexia), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Pilot Clinical Trial of Repeated Doses of Macimorelin to Assess Safety and Efficacy in Patients With Cancer Cachexia
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pilot clinical trial of macimorelin to assess safety and efficacy in patients with cancer cachexia.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2023Trial
- The effects of tissue inflammation on cancer cachexia.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2026Review
- Cancer cachexia: molecular basis and therapeutic advances.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Cancer-Associated Cachexia: Bridging Clinical Findings with Mechanistic Insights in Human Studies.Cancer discovery · 2025Review
- Deciphering molecular crosstalk mechanisms between skeletal muscle atrophy and KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer: a literature review.Hepatobiliary surgery and nutrition · 2025Review
- Review
- Current Therapeutic Targets in Cancer Cachexia: A Pathophysiologic Approach.American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Annual Meeting · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCancer cachexia is associated with reduced body weight, appetite and quality of life (QOL) with no approved treatments. Growth hormone secretagogues like macimorelin have potential to mitigate these effects.
methodsThis pilot study assessed the safety and efficacy of macimorelin for 1 week. Efficacy was defined a priori as 1-week change in body weight (≥0.8 kg), plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 (≥50 ng/mL) or QOL (≥15%). Secondary outcomes included food intake, appetite, functional performance, energy expenditure and safety laboratory parameters. Patients with cancer cachexia were randomized to 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg macimorelin or placebo; outcomes were assessed non-parametrically.
resultsParticipants receiving at least one of either macimorelin dose were combined (N = 10; 100% male; median age = 65.50 ± 2.12) and compared with placebo (N = 5; 80% male; median age = 68.00 ± 6.19). Efficacy criteria achieved: body weight (macimorelin N = 2; placebo N = 0; P = 0.92); IGF-1 (macimorelin N = 0; placebo N = 0); QOL by Anderson Symptom Assessment Scale (macimorelin N = 4; placebo N = 1; P = 1.00) or Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F; macimorelin N = 3; placebo N = 0; P = 0.50). No related serious or non-serious adverse events were reported. In macimorelin recipients, change in FACIT-F was directly associated with change in body weight (r = 0.92, P = 0.001), IGF-1 (r = 0.80, P = 0.01), and caloric intake (r = 0.83, P = 0.005), and inversely associated with change in energy expenditure (r = -0.67, P = 0.05).
conclusionsDaily oral macimorelin for 1 week was safe and numerically improved body weight and QOL in patients with cancer cachexia compared with placebo. Longer term administration should be evaluated for mitigation of cancer-induced reductions in body weight, appetite and QOL in larger studies.
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