Cancer cachexia is a paraneoplastic syndrome that causes profound weight loss and muscle mass atrophy and is estimated to be the cause of up to 30% of cancer deaths. Though the exact cause is unknown, patients with cancer cachexia have increased muscle protein catabolism. In healthy muscle, injury activates skeletal muscle stem cells, called satellite cells, to differentiate and promote regener...

W eight loss greater than 6% independently correlates with reduced survival in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Cardiac cachexia is a gradual and graded process, with wasting affecting muscle, bone, adipose tissue and the heart. Reduced appetite has been proposed as a important factor for weight loss caused by cardiac cachexia. The mechanism of cardiac cachexia remains largely uncl...

INTRODUCTION We report a case of the rare entity of diabetic neuropathic cachexia, in order to remind clinicians that these cases still exist. CASE PRESENTATION A 71-year-old Moslem Arab man with type 2 diabetes along with diabetic neuropathic cachexia complicated by a hyperfunctioning autonomous thyroid nodule, and undiagnosed acromegaly came under our care. We report the unique challenges a...

The dire effects of cancer-induced cachexia undermine treatment and contribute to decreased survival rates. Therapeutic options for this syndrome are limited, and therefore efforts to identify signs of precachexia in cancer patients are necessary for early intervention. The applications of molecular and functional imaging that would enable a whole-body "holistic" approach to this problem may le...

BACKGROUND Cachexia is a state of involuntary weight loss common to many chronic diseases. Experimental data, showing that cachexia is related to the enhancement of acute phase response reaction, led to the new definition of cachexia that included, aside from the principal criterion of weight loss, other "minor criteria", Amongst them are levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin and hemoglob...

Background Cancer cachexia impacts the majority of advanced cancer patients but no approved anticachexia therapeutic exits. Recent late stage clinical failures of anabolic anti-cachexia therapy revealed heterogeneous responses to anabolic therapies and a limited ability to translate improved body composition into functional benefit. It is currently unclear what governs anabolic responsiveness i...

BACKGROUND Cancer-related cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterised by progressive loss of body weight and it affects a large proportion of patients with advanced cancer. Cachexia is associated with reduced treatment tolerance, response to therapy, quality of life and duration of survival, whereas some of its mechanisms are shared across the whole continuum of diseases in the populati...

Cancer is the third leading cause of death in Kenya. However, there is scarce information on the nutritional status of cancer patients to guide in decision making. The present study sought to assess the risk of malnutrition, and factors associated with malnutrition and cachexia, among cancer out-patients, with the aim of informing nutrition programmes for cancer management in Kenya and beyond. ...

BACKGROUND Geriatric cachexia is distinct from other age-related muscle wasting syndromes; however, detection and therefore treatment is challenging without the availability of valid instruments suitable for application in the clinical setting. This study assessed the sensitivity and specificity of a newly developed screening instrument utilising portable assessments against previously defined ...

BACKGROUND The condition known as cachexia presents in most patients with malignant tumours, leading to a poor quality of life and premature death. Although the cancer-cachexia state primarily affects skeletal muscle, possible damage in the cardiac muscle remains to be better characterized and elucidated. Leucine, which is a branched chain amino acid, is very useful for preserving lean body mas...