Cachexia Group

This group at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is focused on the wasting syndrome associated with cancer, and how it affects patient function and survival.

About

Mr Richard Skipworth leads a research group, which is interested in cachexia, nutritional status, and body composition in cancer patients, and the impact that these factors exert on on patient symptomatology and prognosis.

He collaborates with mulitple international/pharmaceutical collaborators including Professor Stephen J. Wigmore, and Dr Barry Laird and Professor Marie Fallon of the Edinburgh Palliative and Supportive Care group (EPaS).

 

Research

Our work involves translational and clinical studies of patients with Upper GI cancer, with a focus on tissue collection, body composition analysis techniques using cross-sectional imaging, and randomised controlled trials of multimodal interventions.

The current main focus of interest is the biochemical investigation of molecular pathways leading to skeletal muscle and fat wasting in cancer. 

Principle Investigator