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ABSTRACT Cancer cachexia is a devastating, multifactorial and often irreversible syndrome that affects around 50–80% of cancer patients, depending on the tumour type, and that leads to

substantial weight loss, primarily from loss of skeletal muscle and body fat. Since cachexia may account for up to 20% of cancer deaths, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is

essential. The occurrence of cachexia in cancer patients is dependent on the patient response to tumour progression, including the activation of the inflammatory response and energetic

inefficiency involving the mitochondria. Interestingly, crosstalk between different cell types ultimately seems to result in muscle wasting. Some of the recent progress in understanding the

molecular mechanisms of cachexia may lead to new therapeutic approaches. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your

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* Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS UNDERSTANDING THE COMMON MECHANISMS OF HEART AND SKELETAL MUSCLE

WASTING IN CANCER CACHEXIA Article Open access 08 January 2021 CANCER-ASSOCIATED CACHEXIA — UNDERSTANDING THE TUMOUR MACROENVIRONMENT AND MICROENVIRONMENT TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT Article 20

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by a grant from the Ministerio de Ciencia yTecnología (SAF-26091-2011). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Cancer Research Group,

Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, 08028, Spain Josep M. Argilés, Sílvia Busquets & Francisco J. López-Soriano *

Institut de Biomedicina de la Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, 08028, Spain Josep M. Argilés, Sílvia Busquets & Francisco J. López-Soriano * BS Nutrition Centre, Barcelona, 08195,

Spain Britta Stemmler Authors * Josep M. Argilés View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sílvia Busquets View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Britta Stemmler View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Francisco J. López-Soriano View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Josep M. Argilés. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS J.M.A.:

Companies' Advisor 2003- Board of Advisors, Danone Research 2005- Board of Advisors, ANECA (National Agency for Evaluation of University Professors); also, on a non-regular basis, an

advisor for: Novartis (Switzerland), Par Pharmaceuticals (USA), Sacoor Medical Group (UK), Amgen (USA) and Merck, Sharp and Dohme (USA), Abbott Pharmaceuticals (USA). S.B., B.S. and

F.J.L.-S. declare no competing interests. POWERPOINT SLIDES POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 1 POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 2 POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 3 POWERPOINT SLIDE FOR FIG. 4 GLOSSARY *

Adipokines Cytokines that are released by adipose tissue cells. * Asthenia From the Greek, _a stenos_, meaning 'without force'; loss of muscle force. * Brown adipose tissue (BAT;

also known as brown fat). One of two types of fat or adipose tissue (the other being white adipose tissue (also known as white fat)) found in mammals. Its primary function is to generate

body heat, being responsible for the so-called non-shivering thermogenesis. * Calcium release units Specialized junctional domains of the sarcoplasmic reticulum that bear calcium release

channels, also known as ryanoidine receptors. * Glycaemia Blood glucose levels. * Ghrelin resistance Reduced effects of ghrelin, in spite of high circulating levels of the molecule. *

Myokines Cytokines that are released by skeletal muscle. * Sarcomere From the Greek _sarx_ (flesh) and _meros_ (part), it represents the basic muscle. Sarcomeres are composed of long,

fibrous proteins that slide past each other when the muscles contract and relax. * Total parenteral nutrition Intravenous artificial nutrition without oral ingestion. * White adipose tissue

(WAT; also known as white fat). WAT is used as a store of energy in the form of triacylglycerols. It may account for up to 25% of body weight in healthy humans. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

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