Silvia Busquets. Assistant Professor 
University of Barcelona. Website
Faculty of Biology. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedicine. Edifici Prevosti, floor -1. Diagonal 643. 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Reseach subject
Cancer Cachexia
Summary
Cachexia is defined as a state of malnutrition and physical exhaustion and includes weight loss (up to 80% of lean and fat mass) due to a chronic disease. Cachexia occurs in many diseases such as cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, sepsis, diabetes, states immobilization, severe burns, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease or old age, among others. Several studies associate the presence of wasting in patients with a decreased ability to survive. This means that there is a growing interest in developing drugs capable of dealing with this syndrome, drugs that would allow patients to cope with this disease and possess a higher quality of life in the meantime.
Nowadays there is no effective pharmaceutical treatment on the market that can resolve cachexia. Today, patients suffering with cachexia receive treatments (that is, if they are treated; it is not a common hospital practice) based on different types of drugs, which are mainly derived from progesterone and steroids.
Our research aims are the following:
a) To develop a combined therapy to stop muscle wasting associated with cancer cachexia.
b) To develop a score to be able to stage the cachectic syndrome taking into consideration both the metabolic and functional changes that take place during cancer cachexia.
Publications
- Argilés JM, Betancourt A, Guàrdia-Olmos J, Peró-Cebollero M, López-Soriano FJ, Madeddu C, Serpe R, Busquets S. Validation of the CAchexia SCOre (CASCO). Staging Cancer Patients: The Use of miniCASCO as a Simplified Tool. Front Physiol. 2017 Feb 17;8:92. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00092. eCollection 2017 Feb 17.
- Toledo M, Penna F, Oliva F, Luque M, Betancourt A, Marmonti E, López-Soriano FJ, Argilés JM, Busquets S. A multifactorial anti-cachectic approach for cancer cachexia in a rat model undergoing chemotherapy. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2016 Mar;7(1):48-59. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12035. Epub 2015 May 14.
- Toledo M, Busquets S, Penna F, Zhou X, Marmonti E, Betancourt A, Massa D, López-Soriano FJ, Han HQ, Argilés JM. Complete reversal of muscle wasting in experimental cancer cachexia: Additive effects of activin type II receptor inhibition and β-2 agonist. Int J Cancer. 2016 Apr 15;138(8):2021-9. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29930. Epub 2015 Dec 9.
- Toledo M, Penna F, Busquets S, López-Soriano FJ, Argilés JM. Distinct behaviour of sorafenib in experimental cachexia-inducing tumours: the role of STAT3. PLoS One. 2014 Dec 1;9(12):e113931. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113931. eCollection 2014 Dec 1.
- Argilés JM, Busquets S, Stemmler B, López-Soriano FJ. Cancer cachexia: understanding the molecular basis. Nat Rev Cancer. 2014 Nov;14(11):754-62. doi: 10.1038/nrc3829. Epub 2014 Oct 9. Review.