The effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in patients with advanced cancer.
BACKGROUND
Anorexia-cachexia syndrome (ACS) is a complex condition in advanced cancer patients, defined by disproportionate loss of skeletal muscle mass, and a lack or loss of appetite. This condition greatly lowers the quality of life and limits the treatment options. ACS is commonly associated with gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Ginger has been successful in treating these symptoms but has not yet been tested on patients with advanced cancer. Electrogastrography is a technology that allows the direct recording of the gastric myoelectrical activity (GMA).


PURPOSE
The aim of this study is to (1) determine the effects of ginger on the GMA in these patients, (2) evaluate the subjective symptoms using 3 validated scales, and (3) correlate the level of inflammatory factors and ghrelin in this patient population.


METHODS
Patients with ACS and advanced cancer were recruited from the Palliative Rehabilitation outpatient program at Elisabeth Bruyère Hospital. Patients were instructed to take a daily capsule of 1650 mg of ginger for 14 days and outcome measures were recorded at pre- and post-intervention, which included a blood test for analysis of CRP, albumin and ghrelin levels, 3 self-administered surveys (DSSI, PG-SGA, ESAS), patient-reported symptoms, and an EGG diagnosis.


RESULTS
Fifteen patients with a median age of 58 and varying cancer diagnoses were enrolled. EGG diagnosis showed that 9 of the 15 patients had a direct improvement in their GMA, and all patients showed improvement in reported symptoms, most notably nausea, dysmotility- and reflux-like symptoms. There was no correlation found for ginger administration and inflammatory factors.


CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that ginger may improve GMA as measured by EGG and may have a notable effect on symptom improvement.
['Bhargava|Ravi|R|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5697-0175', 'Chasen|Martin|M|', 'Elten|Michael|M|', 'MacDonald|Neil|N|']
D000328:Adult D000855:Anorexia D002100:Cachexia D005260:Female D054439:Ghrelin D020939:Ginger D006801:Humans D008297:Male D009325:Nausea D009369:Neoplasms D008517:Phytotherapy D011788:Quality of Life D014839:Vomiting
Ginger Advanced cancer Anorexia-cachexia syndrome Electrogastrography Gastric myoelectrical activity