Cited by 95Nutrition and Health in AgingMuscle Physiology and DisordersMuscle metabolism and nutrition

Molecular pathways leading to loss of skeletal muscle mass in cancer cachexia – can findings from animal models be translated to humans?

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Mueller, Tara C., Bachmann, Jeannine, Prokopchuk, Olga, Friess, Helmut, Martignoni, Marc E.·2016·BMC Cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cachexia is a multi-factorial, systemic syndrome that especially affects patients with cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, and leads to reduced treatment response, survival and quality of life. The most important clinical feature of cachexia is the excessive wasting of skeletal muscle mass. Currently, an effective treatment is still lacking and the search for therapeutic targets continues. Even though a substantial number of animal studies have contributed to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the loss of skeletal muscle mass, subsequent clinical trials of potential new drugs have not yet yielded any effective treatment for cancer cachexia. Therefore, we questioned to which degree findings from animal studies can be translated to humans in clinical practice and research. DISCUSSION: A substantial amount of animal studies on the molecular mechanisms of muscle wasting in cancer cachexia has been conducted in recent years. This extensive review of the literature showed that most of their observations could not be consistently reproduced in studies on human skeletal muscle samples. However, studies on human material are scarce and limited in patient numbers and homogeneity. Therefore, their results have to be interpreted critically. More research is needed on human tissue samples to clarify the signaling pathways that lead to skeletal muscle loss, and to confirm pre-selected drug targets from animal models in clinical trials. In addition, improved diagnostic tools and standardized clinical criteria for cancer cachexia are needed to conduct standardized, randomized controlled trials of potential drug candidates in the future.

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  • Experimental models do not reflect the complexity of human disease, as illustrated in cancer research, and are heterogeneous in their ability to reproduce every characteristic of COPD sarcopenia.

    “However, experimental models do not reflect the complexity of human disease, as currently illustrated in the field of cancer research [190], and are quite heterogeneous in their ability to reproduce every characteristic of COPD sarcopenia.”

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  1. [39]Fujita J, Tsujinaka T, Yano M, Ebisui C, Saito H, Katsume A, et al. Anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody prevents muscle atrophy in colon-26 adenocarcinoma-bearing mice with modulation of lysosomal and ATP-ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathways. Int J Cancer. 1996;68(5):637–43. 8938147

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Authors
Mueller, T. C., Bachmann, J., Prokopchuk, O., Friess, H., & Martignoni, M. E.
Affiliations
TUM Klinikum (DE)
Corresponding author
Mueller, Tara C.
Venue
BMC Cancer
Published
2016-02-08
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
75-75
ISSN
1471-2407 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2259134248
Cited by
95
References
191
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 6
FWCI
1.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Cancer (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open access LMU (Ludwid Maxmilian's Universitat Munchen) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Technische Universität München
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
Keywords
cancer cachexia, skeletal muscle atrophy, muscle atrophy, animal models, translational research, molecular pathways, gastrointestinal cancer, therapeutic target, clinical trials, diagnostic criteria
MeSH terms
Animals, Cachexia, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Muscular Atrophy, Neoplasms, Weight Loss, Muscle, Skeletal

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