Cancer Cachexia is the severe loss of skeletal muscle mass that can occur in cancer patients (Figure 1). It is a common complication of cancer, affecting between 50~80% of all cancer patients.
Cancer Cachexia reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is directly responsible for the death of 20-40% of cancer patients.
It is the fourth most common cause of death and is higher than deaths caused by pneumonia (3.23%), Alzeimer's disease (3.04%), and diabetes (2.68%). Therefore, research into preventing or treating cancer cachexia is a priority.
Cancer cachexia is caused by cancer cell-derived factors, which are released in to the patients' bloodstream and produce muscle wasting and atrophy (Figure 2).
Our research is focused on discovering new cancer-derived factors that produce cachexia to identify new targets for this disorder, using cell-based models of cancer cachexia and validate them in animal models of cachexia progression.