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Cancer cachexia
Make it clearer
Cancer cachexia is a wasting of the body that goes well beyond eating too little. It is a metabolic syndrome, meaning a disorder in the way the body handles its energy, always tied to an underlying illness, and what defines it is the loss of muscle mass, with or without loss of fat.
What drives it is inflammation. Messengers called inflammatory mediators, among them tumor necrosis factor and the interleukins, take away appetite and at the same time push up hormones such as glucagon, cortisol, and catecholamines. The result is a catabolic, hypermetabolic state: the body burns energy at an accelerated pace and breaks down its own tissue.
That is where the hardest part for families comes in. Cachexia is common in advanced cancer and, by definition, giving more calories and more protein does not reverse that abnormal metabolic state. The problem is not that the person is eating too little. It is that the metabolism itself is working against them.
In brief
Cachexia is a complex metabolic syndrome related to an underlying illness, defined by the loss of muscle mass, with or without loss of fat mass.
Inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor and the interleukins bring on anorexia while raising glucagon, cortisol, and catecholamines, which produces a catabolic, hypermetabolic state.
It is common in advanced cancer, and by definition increasing calorie and protein intake does not reverse that abnormal metabolic state.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology InformationCachexia. StatPearls
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated