New Method Could Alleviate Muscle Weakness in Cancer Patients

A team led by researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine has found that inhibiting a growth factor could potentially help alleviate skeletal muscle weakness in cancer patients.

In a study using mouse models, the investigators say they have identified the molecular pathways that lead to cancer-associated muscle weakness. According to the authors, inhibiting TGF-β, a growth factor that is released from bone in cancer-induced bone destruction, improved muscle function in the mouse models of human cancers.
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The authors note that advanced cancer often spreads to the bone, which results in muscle weakness that can greatly decrease patients’ quality of life as well as increasing the risk of bone fracture, adding that previous studies have demonstrated that cancer’s spread and the resulting bone destruction releases growth factors into the circulation.

This study shows that muscle weakness could be prevented in mice with cancer in bone by drugs that inhibit bone destruction or block the growth factor activity, according to the researchers, who note that these drugs could potentially prevent muscle weakness in patients with cancer in the bone as well.

“It’s important for primary care practitioners to recognize the early signs of muscle weakness and the potential for cachexia in their patients,” says David Waning, PhD, assistant research professor in the division of endocrinology at Indiana University School of Medicine, and co-author of the study.

“If patients have bone metastases they may have muscle weakness even before they have cachexia,” says Waning. “Weakness and reduced mobility increase the risk of falls and fractures that significantly increase mortality in patients with bone metastases. Certain cancer therapies may also lead to weakness, so functional status needs to be monitored in patients. Until other therapies are approved for muscle weakness and cachexia, these patients should have therapy to block bone destruction if this is clinically indicated.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Waning D, Mohammad K, et al. Excess TGF-β mediates muscle weakness associated with bone metastases in mice. Nature Medicine. 2015.