Cancer cachexia is a syndrome characterised by progressive weight loss, loss of appetite, skeletal muscle wasting, and reduced adipose tissues. A loss of appetite can occur as a result of the illness and/or treatment. Quality of life is severely impacted, leading to a poor prognosis. Currently, this is a serious unmet need with no long-term treatments available.
Appetite and cachexia
Research program
The Appetite and cachexia Symptom Node Subcommittee is undertaking a comprehensive program of work including systematic reviews, survey studies, phase I and II trials as well as facilitating Rapid program series.
Interested in finding out more? To express your interest in joining the Appetite and Cachexia SNSC, email paccsc@uts.edu.au (palliative interest) or cst@uts.edu.au (cancer symptom interest).
Survey: Experience with weight loss and reduced appetite in people with cancer
The purpose of this study is to better understand the experiences of people with cancer regarding weight loss and/or reduced appetite and their related service needs. Learning about their experiences will help us determine best practice options in improving outcomes and quality of life for patients.
Our team is asking for your help to encourage your patients to participate in a 20-minute online survey.
The survey can be accessed via this link: https://redcap.link/CACS2021
Please forward this link to any patient you believe might be interested in completing the survey.
We thank you for your help.
The project team is the Appetite and Cachexia Symptom Node Subcommittee supported by the PaCCSC/CST located at the University of Technology Sydney and is an honours project for a student at the University of New South Wales Sydney.
For more information, or help with the survey, please feel free to contact Dr Tina Naumovski, Senior Research Fellow/Coordinating investigator at UNSW on v.naumovski@unsw.edu.au.
(SVH approval number: 2020/ETH00579)
Subcommittee Chair
Dr Tina Naumovksi is a researcher in the fields of pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacology, with expertise in complementary medicines. She is one of very few researchers in the world with a multidisciplinary approach spanning the cultivation and preparation, analytical (isolating and identifying compounds), pharmacological (mechanism of action, drug interactions, pharmacokinetics) and clinical research of plant material.
Currently, Dr Naumovski provides organisational leadership as the program coordinator/associate investigator of clinical trials using medicinal cannabis for anorexia in advanced cancer. She is the inaugural Chair of the Appetite and Cachexia Symptom Node Subcommittee tasked with mapping a program of work to improve anorexia cachexia syndrome, thus making her research career truly original and translational. She is based at the School of Medicine, University of New South Wales, and is a sessional lecturer/adjunct at Western Sydney University as well as an honorary IMPACCT fellow.
Publications
Sousa MS, Davis W, Blanchard M, Razmovski-Naumovski V, Agar M, Daveson B, Currow DC. Appetite-Related Distress Is Burdensome in the Last Sixty Days of Life of People Receiving Palliative Care: A National Longitudinal Consecutive Cohort Study. J Palliat Med. 2021 Dec 31. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2021.0462. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34978898.
Bland KA, Harrison M, Zopf EM, Sousa MS, Currow DC, Ely M, Agar M, Butcher BE, Vaughan V, Dowd A, Martin P. Quality of Life and Symptom Burden Improve in Patients Attending a Multidisciplinary Clinical Service for Cancer Cachexia: A Retrospective Observational Review. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2021 Sep;62(3):e164-e176. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.02.034. Epub 2021 Feb 27. PMID: 33652095.
Vaughan, VC, Farrell, H, Lewandowski, PA, McCoombe, SC and Martin, P Defining a new model of interdisciplinary cachexia care in regional Victoria, Australia. Supportive Care in Cancer 28, 3041-3049 (2020). doi: 10.1007/s00520-019-05072-w
