Nutritional Mechanisms of Cancer Cachexia

Cancer cachexia is a complex systemic wasting syndrome. Nutritional mech-anisms that span energy intake, nutrient metabolism, body composition, andenergy balance may be impacted by, and may contribute to, the developmentof cachexia. To date, clinical management of cachexia remains elusive. Lean-ing on discoveries and novel methodologies from other fields of researchmay bolster new breakthroughs that improve nutritional management andclinical outcomes. Characteristics that compare and contrast cachexia andobesity may reveal opportunities for cachexia research to adopt methodol-ogy from the well-established field of obesity research. This review outlinesthe known nutritional mechanisms and gaps in the knowledge surround-ing cancer cachexia. In parallel, we present how obesity may be a differentside of the same coin and how obesity research has tackled similar researchquestions. We present insights into how cachexia research may utilize nu-tritional methodology to expand our understanding of cachexia to improvedefinitions and clinical care in future directions for the field