Muscle

Muscle Wasting Disease (MWD) in Cachexia and Sarcopenia

AllAgeingCachexiaCancer CachexiaClinical TrialsExerciseFrailtyFrom the literatureGuidelinesMuscleNutritionOther SCWD EventsSarcopenia

The bone-muscle connection in breast cancer: a review

Breast cancer treatments often lead to musculoskeletal morbidity; muscle loss in general is seen as a complication of breast cancer, affecting survival and quality of life. Emerging new research into the biochemical and molecular links between the skeletal and muscular systems is beginning to be taken into account, alongside the well-known anatomical relationship, to improve our understanding of these effects. This paper discussed treatments such as anti-oestrogen therapy, which deteriorates bone health and muscle mass, and the significance of these effects in lower survival rates and worse outcomes for patients. In this sense, exercise is concluded to be of aid for patients with breast cancer in improving their outcomes.
This review by Ballinger T et al. aimed to understand the relevance of musculoskeletal health to breast cancer, and the strategies that could aid patients in this disease.

Read MoreThe bone-muscle connection in breast cancer: a review

Muscle Wasting Disease (MWD) in Cachexia and Sarcopenia

Weight loss is the hallmark of any progressive acute or chronic disease state. In its extreme form, it involves a significant lean body mass (including skeletal muscle), and fat loss. Skeletal muscle provides a fundamental basis for human function, enabling locomotion and respiration. Muscle wasting is related to a poor quality of life and increased morbidity/ mortality.

Two common but distinct conditions characterized by a loss of skeletal muscle mass are sarcopenia and cachexia. Sarcopenia, cachexia, and anorexic disorders (protein-energy malnutrition) represent the major causes of muscle-wasting disorders.

It has been known for millennia that muscle and fat wasting leads to poor outcomes including deaths in chronic disease states.

It is usually accompanied by physical inactivity, decreased mobility, slow gait, and poor physical endurance which are also common features of the frailty syndrome.

Fig. 1 โ€“ Framework for the suggested classification of MWD by disease etiology and disease progression.

Both cachexia and sarcopenia are characterized by an important muscle dysfunction that leads to increased morbidity and mortality.

Fig. 2 โ€“ The cachexia/ sarcopenia pyramid. Both lead to muscle dysfunction.

References

Kalantar-Zadeh K, Rhee C, Sim JJ, Stenvinkel P, Anker SD, Kovesdy CP.ย Why cachexia kills: examining the causality of poor outcomes in wasting conditions.ย J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2013; 4: 89โ€“94.

Evans WJ, Morley JE, Argilรฉs J, Bales C, Baracos V, Guttridge D, et al.ย Cachexia: a new definition.ย Clin Nutr 2008; 27: 793โ€“799.

Anker SD, Coats AJS, Morley JE, Rosano G, Bernabei R, Haehling S, et al.ย Muscle wasting disease: a proposal for a new disease classification.ย J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2014; 5: 1โ€“3.

Argiles JM, Busquets S, Stemmler B, Lรณpez-Soriano FJ.ย Cachexia and sarcopenia: mechanisms and potential targets for intervention.ย Current Opinion in Pharmacology 2015; 22: 100โ€“106.

Bowen TS, Schuler G, Adams V.ย Skeletal muscle wasting in cachexia and sarcopenia: molecular pathophysiology and impact of exercise training.ย J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2015; 6: 197โ€“207.

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