CACHEXIA: NOVEL PERSPECTIVES FOR AN OLD SYNDROME

Cachexia, literally “bad condition”, a syndrome reported even in the Old Testament, is associated to a variety of chronic diseases and to several kinds of traumatic injuries. Although an official definition of cachexia is still missing, this multi systemic syndrome is characterized by a massive loss of skeletal muscle and fat tissue. Such an important loss of body mass is often a direct cause of death, interferes with therapies and always represents a poor prognostic factor. In sharp contrast with the management of chronic disease states, a cure for cachexia is still missing. In recent years striking discoveries have cast light upon the molecular mechanisms underlying cachexia. Muscle specific targets for pharma-cological, gene or cell therapy approaches have been identified and are summarized in this review. Although limited to cancer cachexia, the first phase I-III clinical trials have been recently terminated or are ongoing. These efforts are opening the possibility to prevent cachexia or treat it with novel approaches in the near future.