Efficacy of olanzapine for quality of life improvement among patients with malignant tumor: A systematic review.

Background: Cancer patients always experience an ongoing deterioration in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There is a strengthening awareness of health care professionals of taking HRQoL, which is a patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), into consideration when they make an adequate selection in clinical practice. Olanzapine, an antipsychotic agent, has been demonstrated to be a safe and effective agent in improving cancer-related symptoms.
Aim: To review the efficacy and safety of olanzapine in improving HRQoL among adults with malignant tumor.
Methods: Eligible studies were retrieved from an electronic database search of the Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL plus, Pubmed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. The methodological quality of selected studies was evaluated, and the relevant data were extracted and synthesized.
Results: While studies differed in target population, olanzapine-based treatment regimen, and HRQoL measurement tools, results have shown that olanzapine has a positive impact on cancer patients' general HRQoL status, functional outcomes, and/or symptoms improvement. Besides, no serious toxicities attributable to olanzapine were observed in all studies included.
Conclusion: While further studies are needed especially which adopted the HRQoL as primary outcome through comprehensive measures, olanzapine could still be recommended in the palliative care.
(© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)