Rapid Weight Loss & Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a term applied to a diverse group of cancers that can develop in your lymphatic system. Hodgkin's lymphoma, B-cell lymphomas, Burkitt's lymphoma and T-cell lymphomas are a few types. Like most other cancers, lymphomas are associated with so-called paraneoplastic syndromes, which include fever, night sweats, itching, fluid and electrolyte imbalances, neurologic disturbances and weight loss, or cachexia. Cachexia caused by malignancies can sometimes be sudden and dramatic, despite adequate caloric intake.

Lymphokines

According to a September 2010 review in the "Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle," 60 to 80 percent of cancer patients eventually suffer from significant weight loss. The precise mechanisms for cancer cachexia are unclear, but scientists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center believe that substances called lymphokines -- molecules produced by the tumor or by your immune system in response to the tumor -- exert systemic influences that cause all paraneoplastic syndromes, including weight loss. Many lymphokines accelerate the breakdown of fat and muscle and interfere with protein synthesis, even in the face of adequate nutrition.

Intestinal Involvement

Although lymphoma may arise in a specific location -- a lymph node, for example -- it often evolves into a systemic disease by virtue of its ability to travel through your lymphatic system and bloodstream. This widespread dissemination seeds malignant cells to a variety of sites, including your intestinal wall. Intestinal lymphoma can cause a malabsorption syndrome that contributes to weight loss, according to the "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy."

Treatment

Treatment of tumor-associated cachexia is challenging and likely to involve the use of multiple therapies. Scientists at the University of Barcelona in Spain say that cancer cachexia is not the same as starvation, and simply feeding a cancer patient is unlikely to preserve or replace body weight. Medications that have proven at least marginally effective include progesterone-like agents, cannabis-like drugs, erythropoietin and anabolic steroids. Alternative therapies under investigation include omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, resveratrol, lycopene, green tea catechins and genistein from soy.

Considerations

Cachexia is a common condition associated with lymphoma and other malignancies. Weight loss occurs in the majority of cancer patients before death and is actually the cause of death in over 20 percent. If your cancer is cured, the physiologic abnormalities that contribute to cachexia are reversed, and your weight typically returns. Management of cachexia requires more than mere nutritional support; the immunologic aberrations caused by the malignancy must also be addressed. Talk to your doctor about the options available to you.