Dr. Haiyong Han, Special for The Republic | azcentral.com 5:03 a.m. MT Feb. 17, 2017

Dr. Haiyong Han(Photo: Translational Genomics Research Institute,)

Question:

What can be done about my loved wasting away while battling cancer?

Answer: Cachexia, or wasting syndrome, is a condition characterized by a loss of weight, weakening of muscles, fatigue, weakness and significant loss of appetite.

Cachexia (pronounced: kuh-kek-see-uh) comes from the Greek kakos (bad) and hexis (condition)and is evident in a variety of medical afflictions, including pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure and even hormonal deficiencies.

It really is a bad condition, especially among cancer patients, where it is responsible for more than 20 percent of cancer-related deaths. And cachexia is found in higher numbers in certain types of cancer. For example, more than 80 percent of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer now the No. 3 killer among all cancer types have cachexia.

Thanks to a $175,000 grant from the Hearst Foundations, the Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute is trying to find ways to prevent, even reverse, cachexia and help cancer patients survive.

TGen researchers have proposed that cachexia is associated with a cancer-caused conversion of white fat (stored fat) into brown fat (energy-burning fat). This brown fat is associated among mammals in circumstances requiring high energy, such as babies maintaining body temperature immediately after birth, for flight in bats, or among bears to initiate the search for food after long periods of hibernation.

If that conversion of white fat into brown fat can be stopped, cachexia could be reversed, eliminating the weight loss, muscle weakness, anemia, loss of appetite and especially among cancer patients help people feel more like living.

If TGen can find a basic way to control cachexia, that concept will be tested in a clinical trial, where it could immediately begin to help patients.

This TGen study proposes to first test potential methods of reversing cachexia in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. If initial laboratory tests are positive, then a clinical team will move swiftly to try to help patients with pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Haiyong Han is a professor in TGens Molecular Medicine Division. He can be reached at hhan@tgen.org.

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