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Update on Management of Cancer-Related Cachexia

  • Gastrointestinal Cancers (J Meyer, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Oncology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 14 March 2017

Abstract

Cachexia is a metabolic syndrome driven by inflammation and characterized by loss of muscle with or without loss of fat mass. In cancer cachexia, the tumor burden and host response induce increased inflammation, decreased anabolic tone, and suppressed appetite leading to the clinical presentation of reduced body weight and quality of life (QOL). There is no approved treatment for cancer cachexia, and commonly used nutritional and anti-inflammatory strategies alone have proven ineffective for management of symptoms. Several other pharmacological agents are currently in development and have shown promise as a clinical strategy in early-phase trials. Recently, it has been proposed that multimodal strategies, with an anabolic focus, initiated early in the disease/treatment progression may provide the most therapeutic potential for symptom management. Here we review the data from recent clinical trials in cancer cachexia including pharmacological, exercise, and nutritional interventions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (MERIT grants I01BX002807 and I01 CX000174, VA seed fund) and NIH Grants AG040583, AR067319, and CA185349 to JMG. We thank the University of Washington DERC (P30 DK017047) and NORC (P30 DK035816) for their help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA

    Lindsey J. Anderson, Eliette D. Albrecht & Jose M. Garcia

  2. Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Eliette D. Albrecht

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Jose M. Garcia

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  1. Lindsey J. Anderson
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Correspondence to Jose M. Garcia.

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Lindsey J. Anderson declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Eliette D. Albrecht declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Jose M. Garcia has received research support from and served as a consultant for both Aeterna Zentaris and Helsinn.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Gastrointestinal Cancers

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0595-4.

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Anderson, L.J., Albrecht, E.D. & Garcia, J.M. Update on Management of Cancer-Related Cachexia. Curr Oncol Rep 19, 3 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0562-0

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