ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2025
A neuroimmune circuit mediates cancer cachexia-associated apathy.
Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed.
- Neuro-immune interactions in tumors, immune-related disorders, and infections.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Tumor-Secreted ADAMTSL4 Activates Latent TGFβ1 to Drive Cancer Cachexia.Cancer discovery · 2026Article
- Systemic health impact of cancer-associated extracellular vesicles and particles.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2026Review
- The causes of cachexia: key signals and the brain.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Closed-Loop Neuromodulation for Brain Fatigue: From Real-Time Biomarkers to Adaptive Intervention.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Reframing cancer cachexia: from malnutrition to treatable disease.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Article
- Chronic psychological stress and gastric cancer: bidirectional associations, biological mechanisms, and clinical implications-a narrative review.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Review
- Article
- A plasma proteomic signature of cancer-related sarcopenia implicates the IGFBP axis in muscle dysfunction.Molecular cancer · 2026Article
- The association between living environmental factors and hearing loss in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: Results from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Neuron-tumor crosstalk in cancer: molecular mechanisms and translational advances.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Oxaliplatin triggers adipose and muscle wasting through cancer-independent metabolic and CNS pathways in mouse models.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Effects of chemotherapy on cognitive and physical effort-based decision-making tasks in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- PEBP4 alleviates muscle wasting in lung cancer cachexia via KEAP1-NRF2-mediated redox homeostasis.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Microbiome and metabolome patterns centered on cancer cachexia link skeletal muscle and adipose tissue depletion to clinical outcomes in locally advanced rectal cancer.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- RIPK3 Inhibition Mitigates Denervated Muscle Atrophy via NOX4-Mediated Mitochondrial Restoration and Inflammation Suppression.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Article
- Article
- Cancer cachexia: A tumor-driven disorder of whole-body homeostasis.Cancer cell · 2026Review
- Myofibroblasts Induce Neuroplasticity to Promote Pancreatic Inflammation and Cancer Progression.Cancer discovery · 2026Article
- Feeding Behaviour in the KPC Model of Pancreatic Cancer-Associated Cachexia: Alteration of Spontaneous and Evoked Feeding Behaviours.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Cachexia, a severe wasting syndrome associated with inflammatory conditions, often leads to multiorgan failure and death. Patients with cachexia experience extreme fatigue, apathy, and clinical depression, yet the biological mechanisms underlying these behavioral symptoms and their relationship to the disease remain unclear. In a mouse cancer model, cachexia specifically induced increased effort-sensitivity, apathy-like symptoms through a cytokine-sensing brainstem-to-basal ganglia circuit. This neural circuit detects elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) at cachexia onset and translates inflammatory signals into decreased mesolimbic dopamine, thereby increasing effort sensitivity. We alleviated these apathy-like symptoms by targeting key circuit nodes: administering an anti-IL-6 antibody treatment, ablating cytokine sensing in the brainstem, and optogenetically or pharmacologically boosting mesolimbic dopamine. Our findings uncovered a central neural circuit that senses systemic inflammation and orchestrates behavioral changes, providing mechanistic insights into the connection between chronic inflammation and depressive symptoms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.