Argilés Josep M, Moore-Carrasco Rodrigo, Fuster Gemma, Busquets Sílvia, López-Soriano Francisco J
Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08071, Barcelona, Spain.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2003 Apr;35(4):405-9. doi: 10.1016/s1357-2725(02)00251-0.
Cancer cachexia is a syndrome characterised by a marked weight loss, anorexia, asthenia and anaemia. In fact, many patients who die with advanced cancer suffer from cancer cachexia. The cachectic state is invariably associated with the presence and growth of the tumour and leads to a malnutrition status due to the induction of anorexia or decreased food intake. In addition, the competition for nutrients between the tumour and the host leads to an accelerated starvation state which promotes severe metabolic disturbances in the host, including hypermetabolism which leads to an increased energetic inefficiency. Although, the search for the cachectic factor(s) started a long time ago, and although many scientific and economic efforts have been devoted to its discovery, we are still a long way from knowing the whole truth. The main aim of the present review is to summarise and evaluate the different catabolic mediators (both humoural and tumoural) involved in cancer cachexia since they may represent targets for future promising clinical investigations.
癌症恶病质是一种以显著体重减轻、厌食、乏力和贫血为特征的综合征。事实上，许多死于晚期癌症的患者都患有癌症恶病质。恶病质状态总是与肿瘤的存在和生长相关，并由于厌食或食物摄入量减少而导致营养不良状态。此外，肿瘤与宿主之间对营养物质的竞争导致饥饿状态加速，这会促进宿主严重的代谢紊乱，包括导致能量利用效率增加的高代谢。尽管对恶病质因子的探索早在很久以前就开始了，并且尽管在发现它方面已经投入了许多科学和经济努力，但我们距离了解全部真相仍有很长的路要走。本综述的主要目的是总结和评估参与癌症恶病质的不同分解代谢介质（包括体液性和肿瘤性介质），因为它们可能代表未来有前景的临床研究的靶点。
