Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
08:55
The Colon-26 Carcinoma Tumor-bearing Mouse as a Model for the Study of Cancer Cachexia
Published on: November 30, 2016
Cancer cachexia: mediators, signaling, and metabolic pathways
Kenneth C H Fearon1, David J Glass, Denis C Guttridge
1Clinical Surgery, School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh EH16 4SA, UK. k.fearon@ed.ac.uk
Cell Metabolism
|July 17, 2012
Summary
Cancer cachexia causes significant weight loss and impacts patient quality of life. Understanding conserved molecular mechanisms of muscle atrophy offers a promising therapeutic target for this unmet medical need.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Metabolism
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome causing significant weight loss, primarily from muscle and fat tissue depletion.
- It severely impacts cancer treatment tolerance, patient quality of life, and survival, representing a critical unmet medical need.
- Therapeutic development is hindered by the heterogeneity of signaling pathways and metabolic disruptions in cachexia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore conserved molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle atrophy in cancer cachexia.
- To identify potential downstream therapeutic targets that bypass upstream mediator variability.
- To provide a foundation for developing novel targeted therapies for cancer cachexia.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent advancements in understanding molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle atrophy and hypertrophy.
- Analysis of conserved pathways involved in cancer cachexia.
- Identification of potential therapeutic targets based on molecular mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Progress has been made in understanding conserved molecular mechanisms governing skeletal muscle atrophy.
- These conserved mechanisms offer a potential platform to overcome the heterogeneity of upstream mediators in cachexia.
- Focusing on downstream molecular pathways may circumvent upstream variations.
Conclusions:
- Conserved molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle atrophy represent a promising therapeutic avenue for cancer cachexia.
- Targeting these downstream pathways could lead to more effective treatments for this debilitating condition.
- Further research into these mechanisms may translate into new therapies to improve patient outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
03:03mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
The mTOR pathway or the...
03:03mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
The mTOR pathway or the...
01:19Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Signaling cascades usually lack linearity. Multiple pathways interact and regulate one another, allowing cells to integrate and respond to diverse environmental stimuli.
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
01:20The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway
Several cytokine receptors have tightly bound Janus kinase or JAK proteins attached at their cytosolic tail. Small signaling molecules such as cytokines, growth hormones, or prolactins bind to the cytokine receptors and initiate their dimerization. The dimerization brings the cytosolic JAKs together that trans-phosphorylate and activates each other. The activated JAKs now phosphorylate cytosolic tails of the cytokine receptors, which serve as binding sites for adaptor proteins such as SH2...
01:41Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
Wnt is a zygotic effect gene that is expressed during very early embryonic development. It regulates various processes in animals starting from early development through the adult stage, such as organogenesis in the embryo and maintenance of neuronal and blood stem cells. Wnt proteins can induce a wide variety of intracellular pathways depending upon the specific abilities of different Wnt ligands to form a complex with shared and cognate receptors in the presence of different co-receptors. The...
01:01Autocrine Signaling
Autocrine signaling is one of the many signaling mechanisms that function inside multicellular organisms to carry out intercellular communication. In this type of signaling mechanism, the same cell that secretes an extracellular signaling molecule also expresses the receptors to bind and respond to that signaling molecule.
Autocrine Signaling in Macrophages
Under normal physiological conditions, autocrine signaling is essential for maintaining homeostasis. This process is well characterized in...
Autocrine Signaling in Macrophages
Under normal physiological conditions, autocrine signaling is essential for maintaining homeostasis. This process is well characterized in...