Cancer cachexia risk score for digestive tract cancer: a review

Article: Development and validation of a cancer cachexia risk score for digestive tract cancer patients before abdominal surgery

Cancer cachexia, a form of malnutrition, can be viewed as a determinant of prognosis. However, there are no effective therapies or treatments for this condition. Hence, the identification of high-risk patients remains crucial for the assessment and management of cancer cachexia. The cancer cachexia risk score was validated to show good performance; it successfully identified at-risk digestive tract cancer patients before abdominal surgery. This risk score can provide vital help to clinicians in their cancer cachexia screening process, allowing them to understand a patient’s prognosis and build better-informed decisions for abdominal surgery.

This review by Tan S et al. aimed to discuss the cancer cachexia risk score in relation to digestive tract cancer patients, to understand whether survival risks can be identified prior to surgery.

Key learnings

The cancer cachexia risk score is a validated and important tool which holds the potential to better understand and improve the survival outcomes of cancer patients. Implementation of this tool into clinical practice will allow for better-informed surrounding abdominal surgery for digestive tract cancer patients.

Reviewed by: Z. Beketova

Authors: Tan S, Xu J, Wang J, et al

Published in: J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2023