Presumably, everyone has seen terminal cancer patients in various documentaries and film and television dramas, they are all gaunt, emaciated, look weak and windy, and some patients have even been emaciated to the state of skin and bone.
Yes, this is the most common manifestation of advanced cancer patients, and it is also one of the manifestations of cachexia, and its appearance is related to many factors!
First of all, cancer is a consumptive disease, the monoclonal proliferation and infinite division of cancer cells, in fact, rely on the body's intake and original storage of nutrient supply, so the more cancer cells proliferate, the more nutrients will be needed.
At the same time, cancer also interferes with the functioning of the patient's digestive system through multiple mechanisms, resulting in various digestive and nutrient absorption disorders.
Not only that, the treatment of cancer is also a double-edged sword, no matter which treatment method of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, while killing cancer cells, it will also cause more or less damage to the patient's body. In particular, chemoradiation and chemotherapy often produce certain side effects, and patients will naturally lose weight after several courses of treatment.
So the question is, cancer wasting is a cachexia manifestation, then the patient's weight gain, is it a good omen?
Whether the weight gain of cancer patients is good or bad, first of all depends on the reason for the patient's weight gain. According to the current clinical data, cancer patients become fat, which is mostly related to the following points:
1. Dietary effects
Cancer patients did not have digestive system cancers, after surgery or other treatment, cancer cells were effectively controlled, patients had a relatively good appetite, and actively supplemented nutrition. In this case, there is no impact on the patient's weight.
Some family members, in order to make the patient's condition recover as soon as possible, will also choose some high-nutrient foods, which will promote the patient's weight to further increase, and even have a tendency to gradually become fat and overweight;
2. Sports
Many cancer patients are shrouded in tremendous psychological pressure and haze from the day they are diagnosed. Some of them choose to give up on themselves and give up treatment, while some of them cherish themselves too much and choose to stay in bed. Prolonged sedentary staying, sudden loss of exercise, and excessive nutritional supplementation will cause weight gain;
3. Drugs
Some patients need to take hormone-containing drugs during chemotherapy to alleviate the side effects of the digestive tract caused by chemotherapy. Some of these drugs increase the patient's appetite, such as glucocorticoids.
At the same time, it will also stimulate the differentiation of fat cells, leading to the formation and abnormal distribution of fat, which will then develop into centripetal obesity, and sometimes patients will be accompanied by symptoms of water and sodium retention;
4. It may be related to intraperitoneal effusion
If the abdominal circumference of cancer patients grows rapidly, and the limbs and face are also puffy, this is often a manifestation of the arrival of abdominal effusion, which is commonly known as ascites. In clinical view, malignant tumors in the abdominal cavity infiltrate into the peritoneum, and cancer is combined with hypoproteinemia, which will cause ascites to appear, which is a symptom of worsening the patient's condition.
All in all, the weight gain of cancer patients needs to be considered from multiple aspects. If the patient's appetite has recently recovered, the diet is normal, and the cancer is effectively controlled, then the weight gain is indeed a sign of improvement.
But on the contrary, if the cancer condition is not controlled and hormone drugs are used, then weight gain should be vigilant, and it is necessary to communicate with the doctor in time.