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“Enjoy glass of wine before eating:” a randomized trial to test the orexigenic effects of this advice in advanced cancer patients

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Abstract

Background

Because the extant literature suggests wine increases appetite, this study sought to determine whether this effect could be observed in advanced cancer patients with appetite loss.

Methods

Advanced cancer patients with self-reported loss of appetite were randomly assigned to white wine with ≤15 % alcohol content twice a day for 3–4 weeks versus a nutritional supplement, such as Boost® or Ensure®. Patients assigned to wine were encouraged to also take a nutritional supplement, whereas patients assigned to the nutritional supplement arm were told to abstain completely from alcohol. Patient-reported outcomes were captured with a validated questionnaire to assess the primary endpoint of appetite improvement.

Results

A total of 141 patients (118 evaluable) were enrolled. Twenty-eight patients (48 %) in the wine arm reported an improvement in appetite at some point during the treatment period, whereas 22 patients (37 %) assigned to the nutritional supplement arm also reported improvement (p = 0.35). Other appetite-related questions and questionnaire items showed no statistically significant differences between treatment arms. In both arms, approximately 9 % of patients achieved weight stability (p = 0.98); median survival was not statistically different. Both interventions were well tolerated.

Conclusion

As prescribed in this trial, wine does not improve appetite or weight in advanced cancer patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Aminah Jatoi

  2. Division of Biomedical Statistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Rui Qin & Daniel Satele

  3. Cancer Center of Kansas, Wichita, KS, USA

    Shaker Dakhil & David B. Johnson

  4. Illinois Cancer Care – Peoria, Peoria, IL, USA

    Pankaj Kumar & Sachdev P. Thomas

  5. Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Philip J. Stella

  6. Geisinger Wyoming Valley, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA

    Jose Castillo

  7. University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Min Li

  8. Schulze Center for Novel Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Martin Fernandez-Zapico

Authors
  1. Aminah Jatoi
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  2. Rui Qin
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  3. Daniel Satele
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  4. Shaker Dakhil
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  5. Pankaj Kumar
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  6. David B. Johnson
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  7. Sachdev P. Thomas
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  8. Philip J. Stella
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  9. Jose Castillo
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  10. Min Li
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  11. Martin Fernandez-Zapico
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aminah Jatoi.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest, have full control of the primary data, and would be willing to share data with the journal if requested.

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Jatoi, A., Qin, R., Satele, D. et al. “Enjoy glass of wine before eating:” a randomized trial to test the orexigenic effects of this advice in advanced cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 24, 3739–3746 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3190-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3190-6

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