Pancreatic cancer cachexia is a devastating syndrome marked by unintentional weight loss, skeletal muscle wasting, and metabolic dysfunction that severely impairs patient outcomes. Affecting over 60% of pancreatic cancer patients, cachexia contributes to reduced quality of life, therapy intolerance, and high mortality. In a new comprehensive review published in hLife, researchers from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health highlight how this condition arises not from malnutrition alone, but through complex systemic crosstalk among multiple organs. The review provides a detailed account of the biological drivers of cachexia—including inflammatory cytokines, TGF-β family ligands, catabolic mediators, and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles—and their roles in orchestrating multi-organ deterioration. It also explores cutting-edge animal models and proposes potential therapeutic targets that could disrupt the vicious cycle of body wasting. This work lays a foundation for future clinical strategies to diagnose, monitor, and treat cachexia as a systemic disease.

Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, recently hosted its latest Pharma.ai summer updates webinar, the second event in the Insilico quarterly platform launch series initiated in 2025. With brand-new features and functional updates announced, we were excited to welcome an online audience of 250+ attendees ranging from researchers, lecturers, biotech and pharmaceutical leaders, from over 45 countries.