NPY and Anorexia: Finally, megestrol acetate, a potent orexigenic drug largely used in cancer patients, improves food intake by reducing the expression of IL-1 by mononuclear cells and by increasing hypothalamic concentrations of the prophagic mediator neuropeptide Y (NPY), which confirms the significant role of IL-1 in mediating cancer-associated anorexia in humans [20, 21].