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The Current Management of Cancer Cachexia

  • Chapter
Book cover Cachexia and Wasting: A Modern Approach

Abstract

The anorexia/cachexia syndrome is one of the most common causes of death among patients with cancer and is present in 80% at death [1]. The term ‘cachexia’ derives from the Greek kakòs, which means ‘bad’, and hexis, meaning ‘condition’. The characteristic clinical picture of anorexia, tissue wasting, loss of body weight accompanied by a decrease in muscle mass and adipose tissue, and poor performance status that often precedes death has been named cancer-related anorexia/cachexia (CAC) [2] [5]. Since the 1980s, the previous concepts explaining CAC were replaced by a more complex insight, which stresses the interaction between metabolically active molecules produced by the tumour itself and the host immune response. One of the main features of the cachectic syndrome is anorexia, which may be so significant that spontaneous nutrition is totally inhibited. The pathogenesis of anorexia is most certainly multifactorial but not yet well understood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Giovanni Mantovani

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  1. Giovanni Mantovani
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Giovanni Mantovani

  2. Department of Clinical Cardiology, Imperial College, NHLI, London, UK

    Stefan D. Anker

  3. Department of Cardiology Charité, Applied Cachexia Research, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin, Germany

    Stefan D. Anker

  4. Department of Behavioral Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan

    Akio Inui

  5. GRECC, VA Medical Center and Division of Geriatric Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    John E. Morley

  6. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    Filippo Rossi Fanelli

  7. Department of Infectious Diseases, IRCCS S.Matteo Polyclinic, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Daniele Scevola

  8. Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell Transplantation Program, Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma, New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Michael W. Schuster

  9. Department of Medicine-Geriatrics, University of New York at Stony Brook VAMC, Northport, NY, USA

    Shing-Shing Yeh

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Italia

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Mantovani, G. (2006). The Current Management of Cancer Cachexia. In: Mantovani, G., et al. Cachexia and Wasting: A Modern Approach. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-0552-5_54

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-0552-5_54

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