Affiliation:
1. Inter‐Organ Communication Research Team Institute for Life and Medical Sciences Kyoto Japan
2. Department of Breast Surgery Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine Kyoto Japan
3. Mathematical Informatics Laboratory, Division of Information Science Nara Institute of Science and Technology Ikoma Nara Japan
4. Department of Integrative Bioanalytics, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC) Tohoku University Sendai Japan
Abstract
AbstractCancer cachexia is a complex, multifaceted condition that negatively impacts the health, treatment efficacy, and economic status of cancer patients. The management of cancer cachexia is an essential clinical need. Cancer cachexia is currently defined mainly according to the severity of weight loss and sarcopenia (i.e., macrosymptoms). However, such macrosymptoms may be insufficient to give clinicians clues on how to manage this condition as these symptoms appear at the late stage of cancer. We need to understand earlier events during the progression of cancer cachexia so as not to miss a clinical opportunity to control this complex syndrome. Recent research indicates that cancer‐induced changes in the host are much wider than previously recognized, including disruption of liver function and the immune system. Furthermore, such changes are observed before the occurrence of visible distant metastases (i.e., in early, localized cancers). In light of these findings, we propose to expand the definition of cancer cachexia to include all cancer‐induced changes to host physiology, including changes caused by early, localized cancers. This new definition of cancer cachexia can provide a new perspective on this topic, which can stimulate the research and development of novel cancer cachexia therapies.
Subject
Cancer Research,Oncology,General Medicine