A collaborative research group led by Professor Atsushi Mizogami and Professor Koji Izumi of Kanazawa University has the potential to improve cancer cachexia by administering testosterone, one of the male hormones, to male patients with advanced cancer. Was revealed for the first time in the world.
It has been reported that about 7% of patients with advanced male cancer have low androgen (hypogonadism) status.Symptoms such as weight loss, muscle weakness, depression, and exacerbation of inflammation and pain associated with advanced cancer-specific conditions (cancer cachexia) also occur with hypogonadism, so some of the symptoms of advanced cancer Hypogonadism seems to be the cause, but there are many unclear points about the relationship between hypogonadism and cancer cachexia.
Therefore, among the men diagnosed with advanced cancer at the Department of Urology, Kanazawa University and the Cancer Center of the same university, cases with hypogonadism were randomly assigned to the androgen (testosterone cachexia) -administered group or the non-treated group ( We examined changes in the QOL (quality of life) questionnaire and the cachexia markers that reflect the state of cancer cachexia (40 in the treated group and 41 in the non-treated group).
As a result, regarding the QOL questionnaire, there was a general tendency for QOL to improve in the treated group compared to the non-treated group, but the score of "unhappiness" was significantly improved.In addition, a significant improvement in the blood concentration of TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor α), which is one of the cachexia markers, was observed in the treated group compared with the untreated group.In the time course, deterioration of cachexia markers (TNF-α, IGF-1) was observed in the untreated group, but not in the treated group.
This study reveals that hypogonadism contributes to cancer cachexia.It is possible to improve some symptoms of patients with advanced cancer with testosterone replacement therapy, and it is expected that it will become a new treatment method by conducting verification in a larger trial.
