Dr. Erin E. Talbert, Ph.D., seeks to become an independent principal investigator studying muscle wasting due to a variety of conditions, including cancer. Cancer-induced muscle wasting, a component of the cancer cachexia syndrome, is a significant healthcare problem with few treatment options. Cancer cachexia leads to poor patient quality of life and decreased patient survival. Pancreatic cancer patients are particularly affected by cachexia, with perhaps 85% of all pancreatic cancer patients experiencing some weight loss. Additionally, muscle wasting, not tumor burden, is the cause of death for at least 25% of pancreatic cancer patients. Prevention and treatment of cancer-induced muscle wasting will improve survival and quality of life for patients with many different types of cancers. Dr. Talbert's K99/R00 Transition to Independence application ?The Extracellular Matrix in Muscle Atrophy? seeks to understand the mechanisms behind cancer-induced muscle wasting. Specifically, Dr. Talbert hypothesizes that extracellular matrix remodeling is a cause of muscle atrophy in cancer. During the K99 portion of this application, Dr. Talbert will gain new skills in microscopy and the generation of transgenic mice to test her hypotheses involving a causative role of the extracellular matrix in muscle atrophy. These skills will be of use in her future independent laboratory, which Dr. Talbert envisions will focus on the role of the extracellular matrix in muscle atrophy. The mentored K99 portion of this proposal will be conducted at The Ohio State University in the laboratory of Dr. Denis Guttridge, a world-leader in muscle wasting research.
! Only 7% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for five years, and skeletal muscle loss, not tumor burden, is the cause of death in at least one quarter of these cases. This application seeks to understand how cancer changes the environment surrounding muscle fibers to cause them to become smaller and weaker and will identify potential targets for therapies to improve cancer-induced muscle wasting. Further, this application seeks to determine if the altered environment of muscle atrophied due to cancer exists in muscle wasted by other conditions.
