<p>Emerging Treatment Options For Cancer-Associated Cachexia: A Literature Review</p>

Abstract

Cachexia is a disease that has been recognized since antiquity; however, research in this area has recently increased. Promising new agents, including anamorelin hydrochloride, have been tested in large randomized controlled studies, and multidrug as well as multimodal approaches have been proposed as having the potential to improve outcomes in patients with cancer cachexia. However, standard treatment remains elusive. This review summarizes the current literature on treatment of cancer-associated cachexia, showing that there are challenges associated with conducting clinical trials in such patients. First, poor recruitment, retention, and compliance among cachectic patients cause research delays. Second, the lack of consensus regarding clinically meaningful endpoints impedes standardization of study designs and results. Further consideration is needed to identify the most suitable study design and endpoints, which can lead to the development of pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions that improve patients' prognosis and outcomes.

Dietary restriction of amino acids for Cancer therapy

“…The levels of AAs were low in cancer cachexia [93,94]. A standard treatment of patients with cancer cachexia remains elusive [95], and nutritional interventions lacking standard criteria showed heterogenous and limited beneficial clinical outcomes but some improvements to quality of life [96]. With a bold guess, cancer cachexia is likely a severe type of global AA restriction suffered for a long period, which might be an ultimate strategy used by the own organism of patients to fight cancer.…”

Evaluation of nutritional status in non-small-cell lung cancer: screening, assessment and correlation with treatment outcome

“…35 36 With regards to pharmacological intervention, ongoing research allowed the identification of some potential therapeutic targets and promising new agents, such as anamorelin, MABp1 and enobosarm. 37 Unfortunately, the impact of these combined intervention has not been evaluated in this analysis. However, in our Unit, nutritional management is part of an integrated multidisciplinary care that combines a comprehensive approach to patients' well-being with a rigorous scientific method, composed by oncology-trained dietitians, kinesiologists and psychologists (figure 4).…”

Cachexia: Pathophysiology and Ghrelin Liposomes for Nose-to-Brain Delivery

“…Etymologically, cachexia is derived from the Greek kakos (bad) and hexis (condition). In Greece, in the fourth century BC, Hippocrates accurately described the central pathogenesis of cachexia, saying: “meat is consumed and becomes water”, considering cachexia as a sign of death [ 17 , 18 ]. Cachexia has a multifactorial and systemic character, which compromises the definition of the criteria for its diagnosis [ 2 , 19 ].…”