# Exosomes as Endocrine Signaling Molecules in Cancer Cachexia

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $439,793

## Abstract

Project Summary:
Illness behaviors and metabolic disturbances are common in pancreatic cancer patients, and may lead to
wasting or cachexia. This devastating state of malnutrition is brought about by a synergistic combination of a
decrease in appetite and an increase in metabolism of fat and lean body mass. The severity of cachexia in
many illnesses is the primary determining factor in both quality of life, and in eventual mortality. Other illness-
induced morbidities including lethargy also compromise the ability of patients to recover from life-saving or
extending interventions, and diminish the motivational drive to aggressively battle the condition. Although
cachexia in cancer patients was described more than two thousand years ago, the central mechanisms
underlying this disorder are poorly understood. Furthermore, there is currently no effective pharmaceutical
treatment. Our laboratory is dedicated to unraveling the basic neuroscience of cachexia. In this proposal, we
will focus on understanding the scope and mechanism by which signals of pancreatic cancer development are
received, amplified, and maintained by the hypothalamus. The significance of this proposal resides in its
unique combination of our historical focus on neuroendocrinology and behavior, with new collaborations and
efforts directed at understanding the role of extracellular vesicles in neuroinflammation. The long-term goal of
our research is to gain mechanistic understanding of the acute illness response and how it is transitioned into
chronic inflammation-associated cachexia in order to develop more effective therapeutic interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10171402
- **Project number:** 5R01CA217989-04
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel L. Marks
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $439,793
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-05-10 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10171402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10171402, Exosomes as Endocrine Signaling Molecules in Cancer Cachexia (5R01CA217989-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10171402. Licensed CC0.

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