A testosterone therapy can help prevent the loss of body mass in cancer patients and can even help improve the quality of life of the patient who is undergoing chemotherapy. Approximately 20 per cent of cancer-related deaths are attributed to the syndrome of cachexia, which in cancer patients is often characterised by a rapid or severe loss of fat and skeletal muscle and this therapy helps prevent just that.
Melinda Sheffield-Moore, a professor at the University of Texas showed that the hormone, testosterone is effective at preventing cachexia in cancer patients. There are actually no other studies targeted at this loss of fat and skeletal muscle and this research published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, may help cancer patients increase the quality of life and maintain eligibility to receive standard of care therapy if cachexia ensues.
"We hoped to demonstrate these patients would go from not feeling well enough to even get out of bed to at least being able to have some basic quality of life that allows them to take care of themselves and receive therapy," Sheffield-Moore said. "We already know that testosterone builds skeletal muscle in healthy individuals, so we tried using it in a population at a high risk of muscle loss, so these patients could maintain their strength and performance status to be able to receive standard cancer therapies," Sheffield-Moore added.
Previous nutrition-focused treatments failed to combat this severe loss of body mass, which led researchers to investigate the hormone testosterone as an option to combat the often debilitating consequences of cancer cachexia. Patients in this study receiving testosterone maintained total body mass and increased lean body mass by 3.2 per cent and sustaining body mass is of utmost importance to help fight cancer.
"Patients randomised to the group receiving testosterone as an adjuvant to their standard of care chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment also demonstrated enhanced physical activity," Sheffield-Moore said. "They felt well enough to get up and take care of some of their basic activities of daily living, like cooking, cleaning and bathing themselves," she added.
