Fig. 1

Cancer cachexia as multi-organ syndrome. This scheme shows the interaction of major organs that are associated with and commonly affected by cachexia. Cancer cachexia that happens in the muscle (center) is dependent on the alterations in other organs, such as adipose tissue, brain, gut, cardiac muscle, and immune cells. Cachexia-inducing tumors secrete many factors, such as cytokines, PTHrP, and other mediators, to induce muscle wasting directly, as well as affecting other organs such as brain, cardiac muscle, gut, and adipocyte tissue, which aggravates cachexia syndrome. WAT, white adipocyte tissue; PTHrP, parathyroid hormone-related protein; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-1, interleukin-1; IL-6, interleukin 6; IL-8, interleukin-8; IL-10, interleukin 10; and NF-kB, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells