Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is a group of diseases responsible for about 8.8 million deaths and 18 million new cases every year [1,2]. Developing cancer involves abnormal cell growth and possible invasion and\or dissemination to other parts of the body [1,2].

Mounting evidence has shown that exploring body composition, tissue distribution, and characterization in patients with cancer is of paramount importance [3,4]. This is a fast-growing and progressively developing research field with extremely high potential. Indeed, specifying patterns and fingerprints of body composition in terms of adipose, muscular, and bony tissues might provide insights into cancer risk, prognosis, resistance to therapies, post-surgical complications, outcomes, and many other aspects with significant implications for patient care.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide a multidisciplinary and multimodal view of cancer, cancer treatment, and the importance of body composition.

References

1. GBD 2015 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators. Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 2016, 388, 1459–1544. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31012-1. Erratum in: Lancet. 1 January 2017, 389, e1.
2. Sciacovelli M.; Schmidt C.; Maher E.R.; Frezza C. Metabolic Drivers in Hereditary Cancer Syndromes. Annual Review Cancer Biology 2020, 4, 77–97. doi: 10.1146/annurev-cancerbio-030419-033612
3. Hagens E.R.C.; Feenstra M.L.; van Egmond M.A.; van Laarhoven H.W.M.; Hulshof M.C.C.M.; Boshier P.R.; Low D.E.; van Berge Henegouwen M.I.; Gisbertz S.S. Influence of body composition and muscle strength on outcomes after multimodal oesophageal cancer treatment. J. Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2020, 11, 756–767. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12540.
4. Greco F.; Quarta L.G.; Grasso R.F.; Beomonte Zobel B.; Mallio C.A. Increased visceral adipose tissue in clear cell renal cell carcinoma with and without peritumoral collateral vessels. Br. J. Radiol. 2020, 93, 20200334. doi: 10.1259/bjr.20200334.

Dr. Carlo A. Mallio
Prof. Dr. Bruno Beomonte Zobel
Prof. Dr. Mark van Berge Henegouwen
Guest Editors

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• cancer
• body composition imaging
• surgery
• cancer cachexia
• skeletal muscle
• sarcopenia
• adipose tissue
• visceral adiposity