Cachexia is a metabolic disorder that causes uncontrolled weight loss and muscle wasting in chronic diseases and cancer. A new study by Helmholtz Munich, in collaboration with the Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, Heidelberg University Hospital, the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), shows that cachexia affects more than just muscles. Numerous organs respond in a coordinated manner, ultimately contributing to muscle loss. Analysis of metabolome and transcriptome data, along with glucose tracing in tumor-bearing mouse models, identified a novel mechanism that plays a key role in cancer-associated weight loss.

UF researchers are uncovering new insights into the complex relationship between the collection of microorganisms that live in the gut — known as the gut microbiota — and our health and immune system. 

Hormone therapy is commonly combined with radiation therapy for prostate cancer, but patients are often unsure how long it should be continued and why. A new study published in JAMA Oncology from researchers at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer tried to find the answer to that question.

The presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer after they received neoadjuvant treatment and surgery predicted worse outcomes than in those patients without ctDNA, even in patients with a pathologic complete response (pCR).

New research from Fox Chase Cancer Center confirms that preoperative radiation therapy does not reduce surgical complexity, reinforcing evidence that most patients benefit from proceeding directly to surgery. The study reinforces findings from a major international clinical trial and suggests that, due to ineffectiveness, radiation should not be used to shrink tumors before surgery.