Communicating with adolescents and young adults about cancer-associated weight loss

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Over the past two decades, advances have been made in understanding the pathophysiology of cancer-associated weight loss, termed "cachexia." To date, there is no proven effective intervention to completely reverse cachexia and there are no approved drug therapies to treat it. This paper will review relevant literature in relation to communicating with adolescents and young adults about cancer-associated weight loss. RECENT FINDINGS: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who have cancer are a unique group of patients due to their stage of development and maturity. This article outlines issues specific to this patient cohort that need to be considered to better understand the impact of cachexia and explore pertinent matters when communicating with AYAs in relation to cachexia.