The present invention relates, in various embodiments, to methods of treating cachexia (e.g., cancer cachexia) in a patient. The methods comprise administering at least one compound for inhibiting, in alternative embodiments, the expression or activity of a microRNA that is present in microvesicles secreted from cancer cells in the patient (e.g., a miR-21 gene product), the expression or activity of a Toll-like receptor (e.g., TLR7, TLR8), the expression or activity of a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), the secretion of microvesicles from cancer cells, or the fusion of microvesicles from cancer cells with muscle cells or adipocytes. The present invention also relates, in certain embodiments, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising at least two compounds useful in the practice of the methods of the invention described herein.
