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Review
. 2023 Nov 26;15(23):5590.
doi: 10.3390/cancers15235590.

Cancer Cachexia: New Insights and Future Directions

Claudia Raluca Mariean  1   2 , Oana Mirela Tiucă  1   3   4 , Alexandru Mariean  5 , Ovidiu Simion Cotoi  2   6
Affiliations
Review

Cancer Cachexia: New Insights and Future Directions

Claudia Raluca Mariean et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Cancer remains a major health problem and is associated with cachexia in up to 80% of cases, leading to decreased survival and quality of life. Cachexia involves complex metabolic disturbances in both protein and energy balance, muscle wasting phenomena, weight loss, systemic inflammation, overall decreased performance status, and tolerability to treatment. The clinical impact of cancer cachexia is very complex, with early detection of cachectic patients and identification of predictive biomarkers being two key factors for improving survival. Thus, a better understanding of the complexity of cancer cachexia phenomena and its main pathophysiological mechanism is much needed. Our review highlights the most important information about cancer cachexia, aiming to disseminate updated research findings about this highly deadly condition.

Keywords: CT-imaging; biomarkers; cachexia; cancer; clinical impact; inflammation; pathophysiology; sarcopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathophysiology of cancer cachexia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proteolysis and lipolysis in cancer cachexia. ↑ equals increased, ↓ equals decreased.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer cachexia. ↑ equals increased, ↓ equals decreased.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Appetite center and cancer cachexia. ↑ equals increased, ↓ equals decreased.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Clinical impact of cancer cachexia. ↑ equals increased.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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