Effect of fish oil on appetite and other symptoms in patients with advanced cancer and anorexia/cachexia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether high doses of fish oil, administered over 2 weeks, improve symptoms in patients with advanced cancer and decreased weight and appetite.


METHODS
Sixty patients were randomly assigned to fish oil capsules or placebo. Appetite, tiredness, nausea, well-being, caloric intake, nutritional status, and function were prospectively assessed at days 1 and 14.


RESULTS
The baseline weight loss was 16 +/- 11 and 16 +/- 8 kg in the fish oil (n = 30) and placebo (n = 30) group respectively, whereas the baseline appetite (0 mm = best and 10 mm = worst) was 58 +/- 24 mm and 67 +/- 19 mm, respectively (P = not significant). The mean daily dose was 10 +/- 4 (fish oil group) and 9 +/- 3 (placebo group) capsules, which provided 1.8 g of eicosapentaenoic acid and 1.2 g of docosahexaenoic acid in the fish oil group. No significant differences in symptomatic or nutritional parameters were found (P <.05), and there was no correlation between changes in different variables between days 1 and 14 and the fish oil doses. Finally, the majority of the patients were not able to swallow more than 10 fish oil capsules per day, mainly because of burping and aftertaste.


CONCLUSIONS
Fish oil did not significantly influence appetite, tiredness, nausea, well-being, caloric intake, nutritional status, or function after 2 weeks compared with placebo in patients with advanced cancer and loss of both weight and appetite.
Bruera
Eduardo
E
Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030-0049, USA. ebruera@mail.mdanderson.org
Strasser
Florian
F
Palmer
J Lynn
JL
Willey
Jie
J
Calder
Kathryn
K
Amyotte
Gail
G
Baracos
Vickie
V
D000855:Anorexia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002100:Cachexia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D005395:Fish Oils