Conditions: Brain Neoplasms Nausea Vomiting
Keywords: primary gliomas brain tumors vomiting appetite suppression appetite
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 33
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This study seeks to define the tolerability and safety associated with the administration of Dronabinol in the treatment of adults with nausea, vomiting and appetite loss in patients with primary gliomas who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment. The study will also describe the effect of Dronabinol on the quality of life in terms of nausea, vomiting and anorexia in this patient group.

Detailed description:
Symptoms identified as impacting quality of life include nausea and vomiting, appetite changes, pain, fatigue, mobility, insomnia, mood, bowel patterns, concentration and appearance (Donaldson and Fields, 1998). There has been little information published on the impact of these symptoms in the glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) population. More specifically, to date, there has not been an investigation that demonstrates the efficacy of an intervention on improving appetite, and decreasing nausea and vomiting in patients with GBM. This need serves as the basis for the current proposed investigation utilizing Dronabinol, a cannabinoid known to decrease incidence of nausea and vomiting, as well as controlling appetite changes for terminally ill patients receiving chemotherapy. In addition, there is no published research on the use of Dronabinol and dose limited toxicity for the brain tumor population.

In this study, patients will receive daily Dronabinol therapy through their chemotherapy cycle. Patients will complete daily appetite and nausea/vomiting logs, as well as receive telephone follow-up from the research coordinator to assess impact of treatment. This will be assessed through two consecutive cycles of chemotherapy.

Arms:
arm 1: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Dronabinol
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Oral route, 5mg PO 2x daily before and during 2 cycles of chemotherapy,2.5mg PO every night when not on chemotherapy

Protocol document: