Advances in cancer cachexia: Intersection between affected organs, mediators, and pharmacological interventions
- PMID: 32222610
- PMCID: PMC8132467
- DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2020.188359
Advances in cancer cachexia: Intersection between affected organs, mediators, and pharmacological interventions
Abstract
Advanced cancer patients exhibit cachexia, a condition characterized by a significant reduction in the body weight predominantly from loss of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Cachexia is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. Decreased food intake and multi-organ energy imbalance in cancer patients worsen the cachexia syndrome. Cachectic cancer patients have a low tolerance for chemo- and radiation therapies and also have a reduced quality of life. The presence of tumors and the current treatment options for cancer further exacerbate the cachexia condition, which remains an unmet medical need. The onset of cachexia involves crosstalk between different organs leading to muscle wasting. Recent advancements in understanding the molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle atrophy/hypertrophy and adipose tissue wasting/browning provide a platform for the development of new targeted therapies. Therefore, a better understanding of this multifactorial disorder will help to improve the quality of life of cachectic patients. In this review, we summarize the metabolic mediators of cachexia, their molecular functions, affected organs especially with respect to muscle atrophy and adipose browning and then discuss advanced therapeutic approaches to cancer cachexia.
Keywords: Adipose tissue browning; Cachexia; Cancer; Cytokines; Mediators; Skeletal muscle wasting.
Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of competing interest SKB is one of the co-founders of Sanguine Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Inc. The other authors declare no competing interests. The authors have declared that the submitted manuscript is original, is not under consideration by another journal, and has not been published previously in any form. Every author is aware of and has agreed to the content of this paper.
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