Cachexia: Novel Perspectives for an Old Syndrome

Cachexia, literally “bad condition”, a syndrome reported even in the Old Testament, is associated to a variety of chronic diseases and to several kinds of traumatic injuries. Although an official definition of cachexia is still missing, this multi systemic syndrome is characterized by a massive loss of skeletal muscle and fat tissue. Such an important loss of body mass is often a direct cause of death, interferes with therapies and always represents a poor prognostic factor. In sharp contrast with the management of chronic disease states, a cure for cachexia is still missing. In recent years striking discoveries have cast light upon the molecular mechanisms underlying cachexia. Muscle specific targets for pharmacological, gene or cell therapy approaches have been identified and are summarized in this review. Although limited to cancer cachexia, the first phase I-III clinical trials have been recently terminated or are ongoing. These efforts are opening the possibility to prevent cachexia or treat it with novel approaches in the near future.