Molecular mechanisms of cancer cachexia‐related loss of skeletal muscle mass: data analysis from preclinical and clinical studies

Cancer cachexia is a systemic hypoanabolic and catabolic syndrome that diminishes the quality of life of cancer patients, decreases the efficiency of therapeutic strategies and ultimately contributes to decrease their lifespan. The depletion of skeletal muscle compartment, which represents the primary site of protein loss during cancer cachexia, is of very poor prognostic in cancer patients. In this review, we provide an extensive and comparative analysis of the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass in human cachectic cancer patients and in animal models of cancer cachexia. We summarize data from preclinical and clinical studies investigating how the protein turnover is regulated in cachectic skeletal muscle and question to what extent the transcriptional and translational capacities, as well as the proteolytic capacity (ubiquitin–proteasome system, autophagy–lysosome system and calpains) of skeletal muscle are involved in the cachectic syndrome in human and animals. We also wonder how regulatory mechanisms such as insulin/IGF1–AKT–mTOR pathway, endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response, oxidative stress, inflammation (cytokines and downstream IL1ß/TNFα–NF‐κB and IL6–JAK–STAT3 pathways), TGF‐ß signalling pathways (myostatin/activin A‐SMAD2/3 and BMP‐SMAD1/5/8 pathways), as well as glucocorticoid signalling, modulate skeletal muscle proteostasis in cachectic cancer patients and animals. Finally, a brief description of the effects of various therapeutic strategies in preclinical models is also provided. Differences in the molecular and biochemical responses of skeletal muscle to cancer cachexia between human and animals (protein turnover rates, regulation of ubiquitin‐proteasome system and myostatin/activin A‐SMAD2/3 signalling pathways) are highlighted and discussed. Identifying the various and intertwined mechanisms that are deregulated during cancer cachexia and understanding why they are decontrolled will provide therapeutic targets for the treatment of skeletal muscle wasting in cancer patients.