Endogenous cachectin/tumour necrosis factor-alpha production contributes to experimental cancer-associated cachexia.

Several lines of investigation suggest that the endogenous synthesis of cachectin contributes to the host changes that occur in cancer. Although serum appearance of cachectin in tumour-bearing animals and patients with cancer cannot be measured with current techniques, there is accumulating evidence to suggest that tissue macrophage production of cachectin is accelerated in organisms with tumours. Production of cachectin, coupled with the simultaneous synthesis of other cytokines that act synergistically with cachectin may explain many of the host changes in the absence of detectable circulating levels.