The role of cytokines in cancer cachexia.
OBJECTIVE
The present investigation is devoted to uncovering the different signaling pathways - particularly transcriptional factors - involved in muscle wasting.


RESULTS
Although the search for the cachectic factor(s) started a long time ago, and although many scientific and economic efforts have been devoted to its discovery, we are still a long way from knowing the whole truth. In this review we describe recent findings about the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, TWEAK and myostatin actions in cancer cachexia models.


CONCLUSIONS
The main aim of the present review is to summarize and evaluate the different molecular mechanisms and catabolic mediators (mainly cytokines) involved in cancer cachexia since they may represent targets for future promising clinical investigations.
Argilés
Josep M
JM
Cancer Research Group, Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, Barcelona 08028, Spain. jargiles@ub.edu
Busquets
Sílvia
S
Toledo
Miriam
M
López-Soriano
Francisco J
FJ
D002100:Cachexia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology; D008660:Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
D016207:Cytokines; D014157:Transcription Factors