Kuala Lampur, May 29 -- Cancer is often described as a battle against tumours. Doctors focus on where the cancer is located, whether it has spread, and how aggressively it should be treated. Yet amid the chemotherapy, radiation, scans and blood tests, one critical part of the body is often overlooked: muscle.

This may sound surprising, but growing scientific evidence now shows that muscle mass is one of the strongest predictors of how well a cancer patient responds to treatment, recovers after therapy, and even survives long-term. For many survivors, rebuilding muscle may be just as important as eliminating cancer itself.

In Malaysia, where cancer cases continue to rise each year, this is a conversation we urgently need to have. Cancer ...