運動改善癌症惡病質機制之探討

Role of exercise in the prevention of cancer cachexia

癌症惡病質是一種綜合性的代謝異常症候群，主要病徵為體重下降、肌肉量及脂肪組織減少，是造成癌症病患療效降低、生活品質下降及死亡的主要原因之一，目前臨床上對於癌症惡病質的預防及治療仍面臨極大的挑戰。本文針對癌症惡病質的成因作介紹，並探討運動對其之效益機制。研究發現，運動可透過抗發炎、促進蛋白質合成、改善脂肪代謝以及抗氧化等路徑，達到緩解癌症惡病質之作用。透過運動對改善癌症惡病質機轉之釐清，藉此提供病患對於惡病質之防治策略，鼓勵其參與運動，以提升生活品質；亦可作為未來臨床研究之參考依據。Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial metabolic syndrome characterized by significant reduction in body weight resulting from loss of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. It impacts upon the therapeutic effects, quality of life and survival of cancer patients. The management of cachexia remains a big challenge for now. This paper introduces the cause of cachexia, and discusses the role of exercise in the prevention of cancer cachexia. Recent studies have reported that exercise can improve cancer cachexia symptoms through inhibiting inflammation and oxidative stress, stimulating protein synthesis, and ameliorating lipid metabolism. These mechanisms provide information for strategy for treatment of patients with cancer cachexia, encouraging them to participate in exercise, and also provide a basis for future research of clinical study.