Purpose of review: Cachexia is a common negative consequence of cancer and is often unrecognized. To assess cachexia, malnutrition assessment tools are used. This review discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the current malnutrition assessment tools and describes the requirements for a comprehensive cachexia assessment instrument and its implication for clinics and research.
Recent findings: The historic definition of cachexia has been updated based on new understanding of mechanism and clinical concepts. Classification of cachectic patients includes novel domains and stages. Validated cachexia assessment tools based on the new classification are under development.
Summary: Cachexia has an impact for patients and proxies. Due to a lack of formal cachexia assessment instrument, malnutrition assessment tools are in use. Future comprehensive cachexia assessment instruments will identify cachexia domains and stages and classify cachexia, the basis for better clinical treatment and research.