19 | Cachexia displays a unique pattern of gait alterations indicating a neurodegenerative condition

Gaelle Revet¹, K. Jangwa-Etame¹, P. Joanne¹, A. Diko¹, M. Mangone², A. Molfino², Z. Li¹, O. Agbulut¹, D. Coletti² | ¹Sorbonne University, Paris, France; ²Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Cachexia, a muscle wasting syndrome frequently observed in cancer patients, is characterized by a progressive loss of body mass, muscle strength, and endurance, significantly impairing the quality of life. To finely assess cachexia-driven alterations of the locomotor behavior, we used the CatWalk system for the gait analysis of C26 tumor-bearing mice. Six groups (n=9-12) were analyzed at 4 time points: female and male mice, each subdivided into control (Ctrl) and tumor-bearing mice in the absence (C26) or presence (C26 CC) of cachexia. We initially analyzed general parameters characterizing the gait of the mice, i.e.: run speed, stand time, swing speed, stride length, regularity index, and contact area of the paw. We were able to identify a unique pattern of alterations, which are typical of cancerassociated cachexia, and not of cancer, and help to better characterize this syndrome; we also highlighted sex differences in these alterations. Moreover, the analysis of specific gait patterns linked to spatial features and to coordination of the movements, highlighted similarities between cancer cachexia and neurological diseases. These findings suggest considering cachexia, at least in part, as a neurodegenerative disease. They also pave the way for the development of non-invasive, locomotor monitoring tools in patients with advanced cancer, to enable early detection of functional decline and optimized therapeutic management.