Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42126170›Full record

Trial reportJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2026

Targeting Cancer Cachexia: A Mechanistic Evaluation of Anti-GDF-15 Antibody-Based Combination Therapies.

Danna M Breen, Stephanie Joaquim, Brianna LaCarubba Paulhus, Donald Bennett, Barbara Bernardo, Susie Collins, Ryan M Esquejo, Ja Young Kim-Muller, Laura Lin, Matthew Peloquin and 5 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIIMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01360554 (Archer 1009), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01360554 phase3completednot on this map

Archer 1009:a Randomized, Double Blind Phase 3 Efficacy And Safety Study Of Pf-00299804 (Dacomitinib) Versus Erlotinib For The Treatment Of Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Following Progression After, Or Intolerance To, At Least One Prior Chemotherapy

TypeinterventionalSponsorPfizerRan2011 to 2015Enrolled878ConditionsNon-Small Cell Lung CancerArmsDacomitinib (PF-00299804), Active Comparator (erlotinib), Placebo erlotinib, Placebo PF00299804
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The causes of cachexia: key signals and the brain.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026
    Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Danna M BreenInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6460-8555
Stephanie JoaquimInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Brianna LaCarubba PaulhusInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Donald BennettBiostatistics, Early Clinical Development, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Barbara BernardoInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Susie CollinsStatistics, Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer R&D UK Limited, Cambridge, UK.
Ryan M EsquejoInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Ja Young Kim-MullerInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Laura LinBiomedicine Design, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Matthew PeloquinInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Zhidan WuInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Shuxi QiaoInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
John C StansfieldBiostatistics, Early Clinical Development, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Bei B ZhangInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Michelle I RossulekInternal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

Pfizer
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn a recent Phase 2 trial in patients with cancer cachexia, the anti-GDF-15 antibody ponsegromab resulted in increased body weight, appetite, muscle mass and physical activity. This study provides compelling evidence that targeting the GDF-15 pathway may offer a viable therapeutic strategy, while raising new mechanistic questions about how GDF-15 neutralization could be optimally integrated with other interventions to reverse the multifactorial cachexia syndrome. This series of experiments aimed to evaluate the effects of anti-GDF-15 antibody treatment in combination with muscle anabolic (anti-myostatin antibody) or appetite stimulant (ghrelin receptor agonist anamorelin) modulators using mouse cancer cachexia models.

methodsThe effects of anti-GDF-15 monoclonal antibody alone and in combination with an anti-myostatin antibody or anamorelin fumarate were examined in GDF-15-dependent (HT-1080 and RENCA) and partially dependent (TOV21G) mouse tumour models. Comprehensive assessments included food intake, body weight, body composition (including fat, lean and muscle mass), muscle function and treadmill running. Circulating myostatin was measured in patient samples from an advanced NSCLC clinical study.

resultsAnti-myostatin antibody treatment had limited efficacy in improving cachexia in mouse tumour models with high circulating GDF-15 (HT-1080 and RENCA), but improved cachexia (when combined with anti-GDF-15 antibody) in a tumour model with low circulating GDF-15 levels (TOV21G). In the TOV21G model, combining anti-myostatin and anti-GDF-15 antibodies led to even greater increases in body weight and hindlimb muscle mass compared with anti-GDF-15 antibody alone (p < 0.001 for muscle mass); however, the increase in muscle strength and treadmill running did not reach statistical significance over monotherapy. When anamorelin was combined with anti-GDF-15 antibody, body weight was elevated compared with the HT-1080 tumour-bearing vehicle group (p < 0.0001) but did not reach statistical significance over anti-GDF-15 antibody alone. Similar observations of the combination treatment were found for food intake, fat mass and gastrocnemius (p < 0.05). Circulating myostatin was negatively correlated with weight loss in patients with cancer (p < 0.01).

conclusionThese data provide proof-of-principle that mechanistically distinct approaches targeting muscle anabolism and appetite may act additively with GDF-15 neutralization, particularly in cancer cachexia settings with lower GDF-15 dependence.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01360554.

Indexed as

Antibodies, MonoclonalCachexiaGrowth Differentiation Factor 15NeoplasmsAnimalsCell Line, TumorDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHumansHydrazinesMaleMiceMyostatinOligopeptidesanamorelinAntibodies, MonoclonalGrowth Differentiation Factor 15HydrazinesMyostatinOligopeptidescachexiaGDF‐15ghrelinmouse tumour modelsmyostatin

Identifiers

PMID42126170
PMCPMC13170096

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.