Breaking Down Cachexia: A Narrative Review on the Prevalence of Cachexia in Cancer Patients and Its Associated Risk Factors

Abstract

Cachexia is an irreversible condition that involves a significant loss of body weight, muscle mass, and adipose tissue. It is a complex condition that involves a variety of metabolic, hormonal, and immune-related factors, with the precise mechanisms not yet fully understood. In this review, the prevalence of cachexia in different types of cancer as well as the potential risk factors was evaluated from literature retrieved from databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed and Scopus. Potential risk factors evaluated here include tumor-related factors such as location, and stage of the cancer, as well as patient-related factors such as age, gender, and comorbidities. Several findings were observed where cachexia is more prevalent in male cancer patients than females, with higher incidences of weight loss and poorer outcomes. This may be due to the different muscle compositions between gender. Additionally, cachexia is more prevalent at the later stages, which may be brought about by the late-stage diagnosis of certain cancers. The anatomical location of certain cancers such as the pancreas and stomach may play a significant factor in their high prevalence of cachexia. These are sites of the synthesis of digestive enzymes and hormones regulating appetite. Cachexia is an issue faced by cancer patients which could affect their recovery. However, it is poorly understood, which limit therapeutic options. Hence, understanding this disease from different perspectives (clinical and pre-clinical), and bridging those findings could further improve our comprehension and consequently improve therapeutic options.

Authors Contributions

MK – Conceptualization, Data analysis, Writing – review & editing.

FMSM – Writing – Review & editing.

FMF – Conceptualization, Data analysis, Writing – review and editing.

Disclosure Statement

All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting this narrative review are from previously reported studies and datasets, which have been cited. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Universiti Teknologi MARA through the Global Research Reputation Grant (600-RMC 5/3/GRR (003/2020)).