The precise cause of cancer cachexia is unknown. It is a syndrome associated with weight loss, lipolysis, muscle wasting, anorexia, chronic nausea and asthenia. Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) are particularly vulnerable to developing cachexia. A current accepted hypothesis is that the tumor produces cytokines, which affects metabolism, cellular respiration and neurological processes leading to resultant cellular changes that promote muscle wasting and symptoms such as depression, anorexia, fatigue and pain. This dissertation focused on cytokines and their associations with red blood cells, albumin, weight loss, symptom development and musculoskeletal dysfunction in HNC patients over 12-months. Higher baseline levels of IL-6 was associated with greater weight loss. Increasing IL-10 from baseline and decreasing TGF-1β and IFN-γ levels from baseline were associated with weight loss. Several cytokines correlated with worsening symptom development over the study period. Worsening neck functionality was associated with several increasing cytokines over 6-months.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07132015-111022 |
| Date | 15 July 2015 |
| Creators | Schultze, Benjamin Stuart |
| Contributors | Sheila Ridner, Barbara Murphy, Jie Deng, Mary Dietrich, Maciej Buchowski |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07132015-111022/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds