Researchers win £1.9m to look at wasting syndrome ‘from head to toe’

Scientists are set to receive £1.9 million to help explore the causes of a debilitating wasting disease many experience in the later stages of cancer.

Cachexia is a wasting syndrome, characterised by poor appetite and extensive weight loss from both skeletal muscle and fatty tissue, which is not well understood.

But now scientists in Glasgow have been given funding to help learn more about the wasting syndrome which will see them use state-of-the-art technologies to look at metabolic changes in the body as they develop.

Dr David Lewis, who leads the research team of cancer imaging experts at the city’s Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, said new technologies available brought an “unprecedented opportunity to image total-body metabolic rewiring during cachexia”.

“This means we can now image the whole patient from head to toe so we can see cross talk between different organs that was not possible before,” he said.

Dr Lewis will join Dr Oliver Maddocks, of the University of Glasgow, who will work with the Cancer Cachexia Action Network to explore the underpinning mechanisms behind cancer cachexia.

The wasting syndrome is a complex problem which involves changes in the way the body uses proteins, carbohydrates and fat.

Those suffering may also burn calories faster than usual and often lose muscle and fat as well.

People with early stage cancers don’t usually get cachexia, but up to eight in 10 with advanced cancer develop some degree of the syndrome.

Not only will these imaging methods offer new insights into the causes of cachexia, but they will provide ways to identify and characterise cachexia early, offering the best chance of managing the condition effectively.

It is hoped that further research can help develop new treatments to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and set the standard for cachexia management around the world.

The £1.9m funding has been handed out by Cancer Grand Challenges, a research initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US, which aims to encourage the world’s leading researchers to tackle the toughest challenges faced by cancer patients.