title: Differences in Symptom Burden Among Cancer Patients With Different Stages of Cachexia.
abstract: Cancer patients with cachexia may suffer from significant burden of symptoms and it can severely impair patients' quality of life. However, only few studies have targeted the symptom burden in cancer cachexia patients, and whether the symptom burden differed in different cachexia stages is still unclear.
  
  
  
  The aims of this study were to evaluate the symptom burden in cancer cachexia patients and to compare the severity and occurrence rates of symptoms among cancer patients with non-cachexia, pre-cachexia, cachexia, and refractory cachexia.
  
  
  
  Advanced cancer patients (n = 306) were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients were divided into four groups, based on the cachexia stages of the international consensus. The M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory added with eight more cachexia-specific symptoms were evaluated in our patients. Differences in symptom severity and occurrence rates among the four groups were compared using one-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test analyses.
  
  
  
  Lack of appetite, disturbed sleep, fatigue, lack of energy, and distress were the symptoms with highest occurrence rates and severity scores in all four groups and were exacerbated by the severity of cachexia stages. After confounders were adjusted for, significant differences were seen in symptoms of pain, fatigue, disturbed sleep, remembering problems, lack of appetite, dry mouth, vomiting, numbness, feeling dizzy, early satiety, lack of energy, tastes/smell changes, and diarrhea.
  
  
  
  This study identified higher symptom burden in cancer patients with cachexia and it increased with the stages of cachexia, which emphasized the importance of screening in multiple co-occurring symptoms for cachexia patients.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People' Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, California, USA.
authors.forename: Kaixiang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People' Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sudip
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thapa
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People' Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huiquan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People' Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bangyan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People' Republic of China. Electronic address: syyu_tjh@163.com.
authors.forename: Shiying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000855:Anorexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002100:Cachexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015984:Causality; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D017281:Cost of Illness; D018450:Disease Progression; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D013577:Syndrome; D014839:Vomiting
keywords: Cancer; M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI); cachexia; quality of life; symptom burden