Study Progress in Pathogenesis of Cancer Cachexia and Prevention and Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:The incidence rate of cancer cachexia is high in late stage of cancer， which is characterized by skeletal muscle atrophy and rapid reduction of adipose tissue and systemic inflammation. Cachexia is highly related to a variety of tumors， and causes a large proportion of cancer deaths. Cancer cachexia can lead to serious complications in patients with cancer， then， the quality of life of patients decreases， the psychological state becomes negative， and the state of illness is further worsened. At present， there is no effective intervention means to completely reverse cachexia. The combined use of multiple targets and effective components of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）， as well as the treatment based on syndrome differentiation and the theory of TCM play an important role in the prevention and treatment of cancer cachexia. Therefore， exploring the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia and prevention and treatment with TCM is helpful for basic study and clinical application. Method:In this paper， cancer cachexia and TCM in China national knowledge infrastructure （CNKI） and Public Medline （PubMed） databases were retrieved， and 98 Chinese and English literatures were included through summarization to elaborate the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia and the prevention and treatment of TCM. Result:Emphasis was given to the important role of inflammatory reaction， skeletal muscle atrophy， energy metabolism abnormality and multiple signal joint regulation in occurrence of cancer cachexia， and the unique advantages and significant role of TCM in treatment of cancer cachexia under different treatment principles. Conclusion:Inflammatory reaction， skeletal muscle atrophy， abnormal energy metabolism make the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia complex and diverse. TCM prescriptions， Chinese herbal medicine and their effective ingredients have the natural advantages of targeting multiple pathways， controlling multiple signal pathways and inhibiting various inflammatory factors in the prevention and treatment of cancer cachexia， and are safe and effective in improving diet， prolonging the survival period of patients and keeping weight.