title: Cancer cachexia: global awareness and guideline implementation on the web.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer cachexia is a common associate of cancer and has a negative impact on patients' survival. Nonetheless, cancer cachexia assessment and management are frequently less than satisfactory in daily practice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To scrutinise global cancer cachexia awareness and relative web guideline implementation among oncology societies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematical identification of scientific and policymaker oncology societies and their guideline implementation on cancer cachexia. Assessment of the general level of awareness on cancer cachexia and evaluation of intercontinental and national variations on guideline implementation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  144,000 web pages were scrutinised, and 275 oncology societies identified covering a large array of oncology setting (educational/clinical/research/policymaker); 71 were international (African, American, Asian, European, Oceania and Intercontinental), 110 belonged to the top 10 countries with the highest development index and 94 pertained to 10 countries with a long lasting tradition in medical oncology (not included in the top 10 high developed countries). Overall, only 10/275 web sites provided guidelines; six of them (2.2%) provided guidelines for physicians and four (0.7%) for patients. Half of the guidelines (4/10) were outdated. All guidelines for physicians reported references, while only one of the recommendations for patients reported references to support its sentences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cancer cachexia global awareness appears extremely low; guideline implementation on the web was inconsistent for any category analysed (nation vs continent vs international vs society type vs physician vs patient oriented) and for updating.
authors.affiliation: General Hospital of Lamia, Lamia, Greece.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mauri
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsiara
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valachis
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kalopita
authors.forename: Lampriani
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tsali
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tolis
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Polyzos
mesh_terms: D002100:Cachexia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D038622:Internationality; D020407:Internet; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cancer; Education and training; Quality of life; Supportive care; Symptoms and symptom management