Can you stop taking Anamorelin once you take it?

Anamorelin(Anamorelin) is an oral drug mainly used for the management of cancer cachexia. Its mechanism of action is significantly different from traditional anti-tumor drugs or hormone replacement therapy. Judging from the consensus of overseas medical literature and clinical practice, Anamorelin is not a drug that "must be taken for life and cannot be interrupted", nor does there exist a mandatory medical conclusion that "once taken, the drug cannot be stopped". The reason why this issue is frequently mentioned by patients often stems from misunderstandings about its role and treatment goals.

Anamorelin is a selective growth hormone secretagogue receptor agonist. Its core role is to improve appetite and promote the recovery of weight and muscle mass. Its goal is to alleviate the negative impact of cancer cachexia on patients' physical strength, quality of life and treatment tolerance. From this positioning, it is more like a "supportive treatment drug" rather than a core treatment that directly determines the progression of the disease. Therefore, whether to continue using it clinically usually depends on the patient's symptom changes, tolerance, and overall treatment stage, rather than simply "you can't stop taking it."

In experience, doctors often regularly evaluate whether to continue using anamorelin based on the patient's weight changes, appetite improvement, and subjective physical status. If the patient obtains obvious benefit over a period of time and the overall condition is relatively stable, continuing to take it may help maintain the condition; conversely, if the patient enters the disease progression stage, has reduced tolerance, or no clear improvement is observed, he may choose to discontinue the drug or adjust the treatment strategy after a doctor's evaluation. This "evaluable and adjustable" medication method determines that anamorelin does not have irreversible dependence.

In addition, anamorelin does not work by inhibiting or replacing key endocrine axes in the body, and problems similar to hormone withdrawal syndrome usually do not occur after discontinuation of the drug. Feedback from overseas patients rarely mentions obvious rebound or severe discomfort due to discontinuation of medication.

Reference materials:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4677053/