Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Aug;127(3):379-382.
doi: 10.1038/s41416-022-01826-2. Epub 2022 May 6.

Cancer cachexia: a nutritional or a systemic inflammatory syndrome?

Josh McGovern  1 , Ross D Dolan  2 , Richard J Skipworth  3 , Barry J Laird  3   4 , Donald C McMillan  2
Affiliations
Review

Cancer cachexia: a nutritional or a systemic inflammatory syndrome?

Josh McGovern et al. Br J Cancer. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Cancer cachexia has long been perceived as a nutritional syndrome. However, nutritional interventions have continued to be ineffective. With the recent recognition of the importance of systemic inflammation in the definition of this syndrome and treatment, has the time come to consider whether this syndrome is primarily a manifestation of systemic inflammation with the consequent implications for future treatment?

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Baracos VE, Martin L, Korc M, Guttridge DC, Fearon KCH. Cancer-associated cachexia. Nat Rev Dis Prim. 2018;4:17105. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2017.105. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fearon K, Strasser F, Anker SD, Bosaeus I, Bruera E, Fainsinger RL, et al. Definition and classification of cancer cachexia: an international consensus. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12:489–95. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70218-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Medicine NLo. Cancer Cachexia. NIH; 2022 [cited 2022 March]. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=cancer+cachexia.
    1. Cederholm T, Jensen GL, Correia M, Gonzalez MC, Fukushima R, Higashiguchi T, et al. GLIM criteria for the diagnosis of malnutrition—a consensus report from the global clinical nutrition community. Clin Nutr. 2019;38:1–9. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.08.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. McMillan DC. Systemic inflammation, nutritional status and survival in patients with cancer. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2009;12:223–6. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32832a7902. - DOI - PubMed