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Cancer systemic effects

Vascular collapse leads to muscle wasting in cancer cachexia

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Muscle atrophy in cachexia drives weight loss and represents a major complication for patients with cancer. The tumor-derived cytokine activin A is now shown to decrease endothelial cell viability in skeletal muscle, leading to loss of muscle mass and function and inducing cachexia in multiple preclinical cancer models.

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Fig. 1: Activin A leads to vascular collapse and skeletal muscle dysfunction.

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Correspondence to Denis C. Guttridge.

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T.A.Z. is a scientific advisory board member of PeleOS and receives consulting fees and research funding from Leap Therapeutics.

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Guttridge, D.C., Zimmers, T.A. Vascular collapse leads to muscle wasting in cancer cachexia. Nat Cancer 6, 1301–1303 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-025-01002-4

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