Anticancer drugs that induce cancer-associated cachectic syndromes

Cachexia--a wasting condition--seriously impairs the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer. Previous studies have shown that several inflammatory cytokines mediate the development of cancer-associated cachexia. Experimentally, cachexia-like symptoms can be induced in tumor-bearing mice and treatment of such mice with chemotherapeutic agents reverses cachexia as a result of its therapeutic action. Nonetheless, cancer chemotherapy occasionally induces anorexia as an adverse reaction. For example, treatment with antitubulin taxanes reduces body weight in tumor-bearing mice more than healthy mice, even when the agents significantly reduce tumor growth. However, the complex relationship between cancer cachexia and the effects of anticancer drugs remains to be elucidated. This review outlines what is known about the development of cachectic reactions, especially in tumor-bearing mice, that occur during treatment with anticancer agents and highlights the clinical relevance of the information.