Silencing a brain receptor curbs cancer cachexia and boosts mouse survival
Researchers at KAIST have identified a brain receptor mechanism that drives muscle loss in cancer patients, known as cancer cachexia. By blocking the GDF15-GFRAL signaling pathway, the team successfully extended survival in mouse models, offering a potential new therapeutic strategy.
Why it matters
Cancer cachexia affects a vast majority of cancer patients and currently lacks effective treatments, making this discovery a significant step toward improving patient quality of life and treatment efficacy.
by The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
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Add as preferred source Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new path has opened toward stopping cancer-associated cachexia, a devastating complication that gradually wastes patients away. A KAIST research team has developed an RNA-based therapeutic strategy that blocks a brain signal to prevent muscle loss and extend survival.
KAIST announced that a joint research team led by Professor Minho Shong and Professor Jinkuk Kim from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, together with the KAIST faculty startup THOR Therapeutics, identified a new therapeutic principle for cancer cachexia.
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