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Cachexia is a little understood condition that can show up in a wide array of disorders
March 25, 2009
James Carson
Arnold School researcher Dr. James Carson has been invited to present his recent research findings to an international conference in December centered on cachexia, a mystifying condition that causes victims to develop whole body wasting. This condition can account for 20-40 per cent of all cancer-related deaths.
Carson, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Exercise Science, said that besides cancer, cachexia also can accompany other disorders ranging from AIDS and chronic heart failure to tuberculosis.
Cachexia, in all of its forms, is important enough to draw a wide array of health experts, including Carson, to the 5th Cachexia Conference, Dec. 5-8 in Barcelona, Spain. The invitation to address the conference is testimony to the quality of Carson’s scholarship. He has been an exercise science faculty member for ten years.
For the past year, Carson has headed a team of USC scientists who are studying the responses of specially bred mice to the role of inflammation in the development of cachexia.
The research, to continue for another three years, is supported by a $1.1 million RO1 grant from the National Cancer Institute.
The 5th Cachexia Conference will be held Dec. 5-8 in Barcelona, Spain
Carson says cachexia is a puzzling syndrome that manifests itself even in patients who maintain their appetite.
"Understanding what causes cachexia could lead to treatments that would allow muscle and fat mass to be maintained," Carson said. "The hope is that the non-wasting patient would respond better to treatment and be less susceptible to other diseases. Their whole prognosis would be greatly improved."
Other key members of the cachexia research team include Dr. Frank Berger, director of the USC Center for Colon Cancer Research. Berger is providing the specialized mice required for the investigation. Dr. Mark Davis, professor in the Department of Exercise Science, is testing the effects of exercise on muscle wasting. Dr. John Baynes, also a research professor in the Department of Exercise Science, is examining the role of inflammation on metabolic dysfunction that could induce the wasting syndrome.
