Muscle atrophy (cachexia) in cancer patients is a life-threatening condition for which therapeutic options are limited. Zhou et al. (2010) now identify a new target for treating cachexia, the activin type-2 receptor (ActRIIB). In several mouse models of cachexia, the authors reversed wasting of skeletal and cardiac muscle and increased life span by blocking ActRIIB with a decoy receptor.

Cachexia is a wasting syndrome associated with elevated basal energy expenditure and loss of adipose and muscle tissues. It accompanies many chronic diseases including renal failure and cancer and is an important risk factor for mortality. Our recent work demonstrated that tumor-derived PTHrP drives adipose tissue browning and cachexia. Here, we show that PTH is involved in stimulating a thermo...

INTRODUCTION Cancer cachexia affects many advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Cachexia index (CXI) was developed to assess the degree of cachexia in these patients. METHODS Patients with metastatic NSCLC diagnosed between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2011, at our institution were retrospectively studied. Abdominal computed tomography scans done within 1 month of diagnosis w...

BACKGROUND Cancer cachexia has impact on patients and their family members. Patients experience loss of weight often accompanied by anorexia and other debilitating symptoms that have clinical impact and impact everyday life. The importance of understanding this impact lies in (1) the alleviation of cachexia-related suffering and (2) its implications for treating cachexia. REVIEW Two decades o...

A striking discrepancy exists in the number of publications on obesity as compared to cachexia or wasting disorders. In PubMed, the number of entries that contain "cachexia" as a title word is only 1,825, whereas the number of entries for "obesity" in the title is 47,828, giving a ratio of 1:26 in favor of "obesity" publications. The difference in publication activities in these two fields has ...

Cachexia in cancer patients is a condition marked by severe tissue wasting and a myriad of quality of life and health consequences. Cachexia is also directly linked to the issues of morbidity and survivability in cancer patients. Therapeutic means of mitigating cachexia and its effects are thus critical in cancer patient treatment. We present a discussion on the use of physical exercise activit...

OBJECTIVE To characterize the frequency, cost, and hospital-reported outcomes of cachexia and debility in children and adolescents with complex chronic conditions (CCCs). METHODS We identified children and adolescents (aged ≤20 years) with CCCs, cachexia, and debility in the Kids' Inpatient Database [Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality]. We then c...

Systemic involvement and comorbidities are common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They add to the burden of disease and are associated with significant disability and mortality. These include cardiovascular disease, mood disorders, anemia, cachexia, skeletal muscle dysfunction and bone pathology. In this article, we review the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of two suc...

Over the last decade, we have gained new insight into the pathophysiology of cachexia associated with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, its treatment is complex and remains a challenge. Pancreatic cancer cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by uncompensated adipose tissue and skeletal muscle loss in the setting of anorexia that leads to progressive functional impairment. This pap...

BACKGROUND Muscle wasting during cancer cachexia contributes to patient morbidity. Cachexia-induced muscle damage may be understood by comparing its symptoms with those of other skeletal muscle diseases, but currently available data are limited. METHODS We modelled cancer cachexia in mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma/colon adenocarcinoma and compared the associated muscle damage with that in ...