Overcoming barriers to timely recognition and treatment of cancer cachexia: Sharing Progress in Cancer Care Task Force Position Paper and Call to Action

Jann Arends; Maurizio Muscaritoli; Stefan Anker; Riccardo Audisio; Rocco Barazzoni; Snezana Bosnjak; Paolo Bossi; Jacqueline Bowman; Stefan Gijssels; Željko Krznarić; Florian Strasser; Matti Aapro

doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.103965

Overcoming barriers to timely recognition and treatment of cancer cachexia: Sharing Progress in Cancer Care Task Force Position Paper and Call to Action

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2023 May:185:103965. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.103965. Epub 2023 Mar 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine I, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany.
² Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Cardiology (CVK); and Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT); German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) Partner Site Berlin; Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
⁶ Department Supportive Oncology & Palliative Care, Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁷ Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
⁸ European Association for the Study of Obesity, Brussels, Belgium.
⁹ Digestive Cancers Europe, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁰ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology & Clinical Nutrition, University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
¹¹ Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, Center Integrative Medicine; Cancer Fatigue Clinic, Schaffhausen, Münsterlingen, Rüti; University of Bern, Switzerland.
¹² Cancer Center, Clinique de Genolier, Genolier, Switzerland. Electronic address: matti.aapro@spcc.net.

PMID: 36931616
DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.103965

Abstract

Cachexia is a life-threatening disorder affecting an estimated 50-80% of cancer patients. The loss of skeletal muscle mass in patients with cachexia is associated with an increased risk of anticancer treatment toxicity, surgical complications and reduced response. Despite international guidelines, the identification and management of cancer cachexia remains a significant unmet need owing in part to the lack of routine screening for malnutrition and suboptimal integration of nutrition and metabolic care into clinical oncology practice. In June 2020, Sharing Progress in Cancer Care (SPCC) convened a multidisciplinary task force of medical experts and patient advocates to examine the barriers preventing the timely recognition of cancer cachexia, and provide practical recommendations to improve clinical care. This position paper summarises the key points and highlights available resources to support the integration of structured nutrition care pathways.

Keywords: Cancer cachexia; Criteria; Diagnosis; Malnutrition; Obesity; Sarcopenia; Weight loss.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cachexia / diagnosis
Cachexia / etiology
Cachexia / therapy
Humans
Malnutrition* / diagnosis
Malnutrition* / etiology
Malnutrition* / therapy
Neoplasms* / complications
Neoplasms* / therapy
Nutritional Status
Sarcopenia* / diagnosis
Sarcopenia* / etiology
Sarcopenia* / therapy