Medroxyprogesterone and palliative care: new indication. No impact on quality of life

(1) Oral medroxyprogesterone has been granted a new licence in France for the treatment of weight loss and loss of appetite in patients receiving palliative care for cancer. (2) The clinical file on medroxyprogesterone in this indication is limited. A large number of patients were excluded from the final assessments in the three published placebo-controlled trials. (3) Overall, these trials show that 12 weeks of treatment with medroxyprogesterone 300-1,000 mg a day orally is associated at best with median weight gain of 3 kg, or weight stabilisation, but with no effect on quality of life. (4) Although no cases of thrombosis were reported in the clinical trials, the risk of thrombosis cannot be ruled out in medroxyprogesterone therapy.