Lean Body Mass and Endocrine Status But Not Age Are Determinants of Resting Energy Expenditure in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Cancer and aging are both frequently associated with malnutrition, a factor of poor prognosis. In adult cancer patients, this may be related in part to impaired energy metabolism, with higher than predicted resting energy expenditure (REE) in about 50% of patients. We hypothesized that frequently impaired energy metabolism in elderly patients could potentiate cancer-associated hypermetabolism, further promoting risk of malnutrition.To study the...