Highlights This ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline provides key recommendations for managing cancer-related cachexia. It covers screening, assessment and multimodal management of cancer cachexia. All recommendations were compiled by a multidisciplinary group of experts. Recommendations are based on available scientific data and the author's expert opinion.

Purpose. A phase III, randomized study was carried out to establish the most effective and safest treatment to improve the primary endpoints of cancer cachexia-lean body mass (LBM), resting energy expenditure (REE), and fatigue-and relevant secondary endpoints: appetite, quality of life, grip strength, Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) and proinflammatory cytokines.Patients and Methods. Three hundred thirty-two assessable patients with cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome were randomly assigned to one of five treatment arms: arm 1, medroxyprogesterone (500 mg/day) or megestrol acetate (320 mg/day); arm 2, oral supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid; arm 3, L-carnitine (4 g/day); arm 4, thalidomide (200 mg/day); and arm 5, a combination of the above. Treatment duration was 4 months.Results. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference between treatment arms. A post hoc analysis showed the superiority of arm 5 over the others for all primary endpoints. An analysis of changes from baseline showed that LBM (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and by L3 computed tomography) significantly increased in arm 5. REE decreased significantly and fatigue improved significantly in arm 5. Appetite increased significantly in arm 5; interleukin (IL)-6 decreased significantly in arm 5 and arm 4; GPS and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) score decreased significantly in arm 5, arm 4, and arm 3. Toxicity was quite negligible, and was comparable between arms. Conclusion. The most effective treatment in terms of all three primary efficacy endpoints and the secondary endpoints appetite, IL-6, GPS, and ECOG PS score was the combination regimen that included all selected agents. The Oncologist 2010;15:200 -211

ABSTRACTfore, essential to analyze all these factors that cause anemia, particularly before beginning any form of therapy that may worsen anemia.The aim of this work was to document the prevalence of anemia in a large cohort of patients with solid tumors before any exposure to antineoplastic treatment, and to assess the possible correlation between Hb levels and the commonly used indices of inflammation, malnutrition, and metabolic stress. We hypothesized that inflammation and malnutrition are independent predictors of the development and severity of anemia and that a better knowledge of CRA may enable its more adequate treatment. MethodsThis study was a prospective, observational trial performed in accordance with the Helsinki declaration after approval by the Local Institutional Ethics Committee. Between May 2011 and January 2014, 888 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed solid cancer at different sites referred to the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sirai Hospital, Carbonia, Medical Oncology at "N.S. Bonaria" Hospital, San Gavino, "Nuova Casa di Cura", Decimomannu, and "A. Businco" Hospital, Cagliari, Italy, were enrolled. Table 1 reports the participants' clinical characteristics. Patients were assessed at diagnosis before receiving any cancer treatment. Exclusion criteria were: evidence of infections, chronic inflammatory disease, active bleeding, hemolysis, renal insufficiency, or hypothyroidism; known history of hematologic disorders (including hemoglobinopathies), family history of thalassemia or hemocromatosis; treatment with EPO, i.v. iron or blood transfusion in the preceding 12 weeks; current iron, vitamin B12 or folate supplementation.Anemia was defined according to our laboratory populationbased normal ranges as Hb <13.0 g/dL for males and <12.0 g/dL for females. Karnofsky PS was categorized into four prognostic classes. 17 Blood samples were obtained at 8 a.m. after overnight fasting since serum hepcidin and iron levels show similar circadian changes. In accordance with Ganz et al., 18 the 8 a.m. fasting hepcidin concentrations were more consistent than those at other times of the day. After centrifugation of the blood samples, serum was stored at -80°C until analysis.In all patients Hb levels and parameters of chronic inflammation [CRP, fibrinogen, IL-6, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα)], iron metabolism (iron, ferritin, transferrin, hepcidin), EPO, nutritional status (albumin, leptin, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides) and oxidative stress [ROS, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD)] were measured. The formula for expected EPO was: 2.5 x (140-Hb g/L). 19 Since leptin is highly dependent on body mass index (BMI), the leptin/BMI ratio was reported. The modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) was calculated as follows: 2, both elevated CRP (≥10 mg/L) and low albumin (<3.5 g/dL); 1, elevated CRP only; 0, normal CRP (<10 mg/L). 20 Laboratory assaysRoutine analyses of Hb, CRP, fibrinogen, serum iron, transferrin, ferritin, triglycerides, cholesterol...

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