For many patients, the cancer continuum includes a syndrome known as cancer-associated cachexia (CAC), which encompasses the unintended loss of body weight and muscle mass, and is often associated with fat loss, decreased appetite, lower tolerance and poorer response to treatment, poor quality of life, and reduced survival. Unfortunately, there are no effective therapeutic interventions to completely reverse cancer cachexia and no FDA-approved pharmacologic agents; hence, new approaches are urgently needed. In May of 2022, researchers and clinicians from Moffitt Cancer Center held an inaugural retreat on CAC that aimed to review the state of the science, identify knowledge gaps and research priorities, and foster transdisciplinary collaborative research projects. This review summarizes research priorities that emerged from the retreat, examples of ongoing collaborations, and opportunities to move science forward. The highest priorities identified include the need to (1) evaluate patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures obtained in clinical practice and assess their use in improving CAC-related outcomes; (2) identify biomarkers (imaging, molecular, and/or behavioral) and novel analytic approaches to accurately predict the early onset of CAC and its progression; and (3) develop and test interventions (pharmacologic, nutritional, exercise-based, and through mathematical modeling) to prevent CAC progression and improve associated symptoms and outcomes.
对于许多患者而言，癌症病程中常伴随一种称为癌症相关性恶病质（CAC）的综合征。该综合征以非自主性体重下降和肌肉流失为主要特征，常伴随脂肪减少、食欲减退、治疗耐受性下降及疗效降低、生活质量恶化以及生存期缩短。遗憾的是，目前尚无能够完全逆转癌症恶病质的有效治疗手段，亦无获得美国食品药品监督管理局批准的特异性药物，因此亟需探索新的干预策略。2022年5月，莫菲特癌症中心的研究人员与临床专家召开了首届癌症相关性恶病质专题研讨会，旨在梳理该领域科研现状、明确知识缺口与研究重点，并推动跨学科合作研究项目的开展。本综述系统阐述了研讨会确立的核心研究方向、现有合作项目范例以及推动学科发展的潜在路径。会议确立的三大优先研究方向包括：（1）评估临床实践中患者报告结局指标的获取方式，并探索其在改善癌症相关性恶病质临床结局中的应用价值；（2）通过影像学、分子生物学和/或行为学等多维度生物标志物及新型分析技术，构建精准预测癌症相关性恶病质早期发生及进展的评估体系；（3）开发并验证涵盖药物干预、营养支持、运动疗法及数学模型等多模态干预策略，以阻断癌症相关性恶病质进展并改善相关症状与临床结局。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家