24 February 2022 – The effect of iron supplementation on skeletal muscle atrophy in cancer patients and sufferers from other wasting diseases has been investigated by a team of Italian and Belgian scientists which studied causes of these conditions in humans and mouse models. The findings, published today in EMBO Reports, shed light on wasting mechanisms in advanced stage cancer patients, for whom prevalence of devastating skeletal muscle atrophy known generally as cachexia reaches 80%.