What is ‘cancer cachexia’ syndrome, a disease responsible for the death of most patients? (Representative)
New Delhi:
When tumors in cancer patients raise levels of an immune system molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6), it can cause severe brain dysfunction, which leads to a lethal disease called “cachexia” in about 50 to 80 people. percent of cancer patients. , said a new study.
According to Professor Bo Li of the US-based Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), “It’s a very serious syndrome.”
“Most people with cancer die from ‘cachexia’ rather than cancer. And once the patient enters this stage, there is no going back because there is essentially no treatment,” he said in a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Li and other researchers on the team found that blocking IL-6 from binding to neurons in a part of the brain called the area postrema (AP) prevents cachexia in mice.
As a result, mice live longer with healthier brain functions.
“Future drugs targeting these neurons could help make cancer cachexia a treatable disease,” the researchers suggested.
In healthy patients, ‘IL-6’ plays a vital role in the natural immune response. Molecules circulate throughout the body. When they encounter a possible threat, they alert the brain to coordinate a response.
According to researchers, cancer disrupts this process as too much IL-6 is produced and begins to bind to AP neurons in the brain.
“This leads to several consequences. One is that both animals and humans will stop eating. Another is involving this response that leads to wasting syndrome,” Li said.
The team took a two-pronged approach to keeping elevated IL-6 out of mouse brains. Their first strategy neutralized IL-6 with personalized antibodies. The second used CRISPR to reduce the levels of IL-6 receptors in AP neurons. Both tactics produced the same results — the mice started eating again, stopped losing weight and lived longer, the study noted.
“The brain is very powerful in regulating the peripheral system. Simply changing a small number of neurons in the brain has a profound effect on the physiology of the entire body. I knew there was an interaction between tumors and brain function, but I didn’t to this extent,” Li said.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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