Fig. 1.

Schematic illustrating features of cancer cachexia. The systemic inflammation associated with cancer cachexia results in metabolic imbalance. As such, patients with cancer cachexia experience fatigue and a reduction in appetite and body weight that is accompanied by a paradoxical increase in metabolic rate and catabolism of both skeletal and cardiac muscle. Additionally, the reprograming of metabolism orchestrates adipose tissue loss and remodeling and reduces tolerance to many anti-neoplastic therapies.