March 18, 2006: Saturday - Weight loss in cancer victims: Cachexia

I have not slackened my pace re: cancer research. The questions have not decreased either. For every 1 answered, 2 more occur to my mind! In several ‘new patient’ interviews I’ve had recently, the question is always asked, "Have you had any recent weight loss?"

It seems a strange question. How could anyone not have lost at least some weight due to the anxiety over having been diagnosed with cancer?! So,when next I was asked that question, I asked the nurse to be more precise. She asked, "Have you lost a lot of weight recently, like 10 lbs, without really trying?"

I answered, "No, not that much" and asked her why she asked. She said that unexpected weight loss was one of the warning signs of cancer. I asked, "Why is that?"

The nurse replied that in addition to weight loss due to anxiety, there is an actual physical condition of weight loss accompanying cancer. A search on the internet gave me a more complete explanation. Here's what I discovered from www.HealthLine.com”

Cachexia

”Weight loss may be a result of a common problem in cancer called cachexia. Approximately half of all cancer patients experience cachexia, a wasting syndrome that induces metabolic changes leading to a loss of muscle and fat. It has been proposed that cachexia may be due to the effects of the tumor, but this is debatable considering some patients with very large tumors do not experience cachexia, while others do even though tumors are less than 0.01% of body mass. Cachexia is most common in patients with pancreatic and gastric cancer. Approximately 83% to 87% of these patients experience weight loss. Cachexia is characterized by symptoms such as a decreased appetite, fatigue, and poor performance status. It can occur in individuals who consume enough food, but due to disease complications, cannot absorb enough nutrients (i.e. fat malabsorption). Although energy expenditure is sometimes increased, cachexia can occur even with normal energy expenditure. Cachexia is multifactorial in nature and associated with mechanical factors, psychological factors, changes in taste, and cytokines. It should be distinguished from anorexia, where there is a loss of desire to eat, resulting in weight loss. Cachexia is serious in cancer patients, sometimes leading to death.”