Treatment of cancer cachexia. Practical guide

This book helps to more clearly understand the clinical impact of cancer cachexia, highlighting the importance of the early diagnosis and treatment of this severe and disabling clinical condition. It focuses on cachexia as a clinical syndrome that accompanies different types of cancer. The main signs and symptoms of cachexia are represented by weight loss, muscle and adipose tissue wasting, inflammation, asthenia and loss of appetite. They are often underrecognized in clinical practice.
New therapeutic strategies represent an advantage over the previous standards of care, but patients continue to face the nutritional and metabolic consequences of the illness process itself and the effects related to the therapies. This book aims to increase awareness of cancer-related metabolic and nutritional impairments, as well as knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms of cachexia leading to muscle and fat tissue wasting. Cancer cachexia is an extremely complex syndrome and an important clinical event, particularly because of its implications in terms of increased morbidity, mortality, socio-economic issues and its negative impact on the quality of life. It can be analyzed from different perspectives, including those of morphologists, epidemiologists, biochemists, biologists, physiologists, and clinicians. The authors hope to spread knowledge of cancer cachexia among health care professionals, and in particular, nutritionists, internists, oncologists and dietitians.