Waste Not

摘要

Cancer-associated cachexia is a wasting syndrome characterized by uncontrolled loss of fat and muscle mass, which kills about 15% of cancer patients. Studying two models of tumor-bearing mice, Das et al. (p. 223, published online 16 June; see the Perspective by Arner) show that adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), an enzyme that breaks down stored fat, is essential to the pathogenesis of cancer-associated cachexia. Mutant mice that were genetically deficient in ATGL were protected from cancer-associated cachexia; they retained a normal fat mass and showed reduced loss of skeletal muscle. Pharmacological inhibition of ATGL may thus merit investigation as a potential treatment for cachexia.