Cachexia Alters Central Nervous System Morphology and Functionality in Cancer Patients

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Oncology
• Radiology

Background:

• Cachexia is a complex cancer-related syndrome causing inflammation, appetite loss, and CNS dysfunction.
• Mechanisms of cachexia-induced neuroinflammation and CNS changes in humans are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the structural and functional changes in the central nervous system (CNS) of cancer patients experiencing cachexia.

Main Methods:

• Utilized in vivo MRI (structural and functional) and postmortem neuropathological analyses.
• Compared cachectic cancer (CC) patients with weight-stable cancer (WSC) patients.

Main Results:

• Identified regional grey matter (GM) structural differences in CC patients, including augmented orbitofrontal cortex and increased caudate/putamen volumes.
• Observed disrupted functional connectivity in networks like the salience network and evidence of neuroinflammation, abnormal neuronal morphology, and glial changes in postmortem analyses.

Conclusions:

• Cachexia significantly alters CNS morphology and function, affecting GM, connectivity, and inducing neuroinflammation.
• These CNS alterations in cachectic cancer patients likely contribute toHomeostasis disruption, information processing deficits, and metabolic/behavioral changes.
• This study provides the first human map of CNS responses to cachexia, opening avenues for therapeutic interventions.