Metabolic aspects in cancer cachexia

ABSTRACT

The present review concerns metabolic alterations related to the establishment of cancer cachexia, a condition of extensive catabolism, responsible, in a great percentage of the cases, for the death of the patient. A brief review on the condition is presented and two major aspects of the host's altered metabolism are considered: the diminished plasma levels of insulin, triggering the catabolic mechanisms; and the reduced carnitine palmitoyltransferase II activity in hepatic mitochondria, rendering the liver unable of oxidizing fatty acids and of synthesizing ketone bodies. These modifications lead to the intensification of the wasting process and thus, from our point of view, might play an important role for the treatment of patients with neoplastic disease.