Nutritional support in Cancer Anorexia-Cachexia Syndrome: The reality in light of the facts

Cachexia develops in approximately 50% of cancer patients during their disease progression. In the International Consensus of Amsterdam cancer cachexia defined as a multifactorial syndrome characterized by ongoing loss of skeletal muscle mass that cannot be fully reversed by conventional nutritional support and leads to progressive functional impairment. The consensus identified three stages of cachexia: precachexia, cachexia, and refractory cachexia. Severity is classified based on degree of depletion of energy stores, body protein mass and rate of ongoing weight loss. Cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) h…