L-Carnitine-supplementation in advanced pancreatic cancer (CARPAN)--a randomized multicentre trial

• Published in: Nutrition journal Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 52
• Main Authors: Kraft, Matthias, Kraft, Kathleen, Gärtner, Simone, Mayerle, Julia, Simon, Peter, Weber, Eckhard, Schütte, Kerstin, Stieler, Jens, Koula-Jenik, Heide, Holzhauer, Peter, Gröber, Uwe, Engel, Georg, Müller, Cornelia, Feng, You-Shan, Aghdassi, Ali, Nitsche, Claudia, Malfertheiner, Peter, Patrzyk, Maciej, Kohlmann, Thomas, Lerch, Markus M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 23.07.2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Apoptosis; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Cachexia; Cachexia - drug therapy; Cachexia - etiology; Cachexia - physiopathology; Cancer; Cancer cachexia; Cancer therapies; Carnitine - therapeutic use; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; Consent; Dietary Supplements; Double-Blind Method; Fatique syndrome; Female; Free radicals; Health aspects; Hepatology; Humans; L-Carnitine; Levocarnitine; Male; Medicine; Middle Aged; Mortality; Nutritional Status; Oncology, Experimental; Pancreatic adenocarcinoma; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic Neoplasms - complications; Personal relationships; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Quality of life; Risk factors; Short Report; Statistical analysis; Studies; Survival; Vitamin B Complex - administration & dosage; Weight Loss; Germany
• ISSN: 1475-2891; 1475-2891
• DOI: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-52

Cachexia, a >10% loss of body-weight, is one factor determining the poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Deficiency of L-Carnitine has been proposed to cause cancer cachexia. We screened 152 and enrolled 72 patients suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer in a prospective, multi-centre, placebo-controlled, randomized and double-blinded trial to receive oral L-Carnitine (4 g) or placebo for 12 weeks. At entry patients reported a mean weight loss of 12 ± 2.5 (SEM) kg. During treatment body-mass-index increased by 3.4 ± 1.4% under L-Carnitine and decreased (-1.5 ± 1.4%) in controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, nutritional status (body cell mass, body fat) and quality-of-life parameters improved under L-Carnitine. There was a trend towards an increased overall survival in the L-Carnitine group (median 519 ± 50 d versus 399 ± 43 d, not significant) and towards a reduced hospital-stay (36 ± 4d versus 41 ± 9d,n.s.). While these data are preliminary and need confirmation they indicate that patients with pancreatic cancer may have a clinically relevant benefit from the inexpensive and well tolerated oral supplementation of L-Carnitine.