TNF and malnutrition: CRC, a malignancy of increasing global incidence, is frequently complicated by malnutrition and cachexia [52], This metabolic derangement is multifactorial, arising from tumor-induced reprogramming such as the Warburg effect [53], inflammatory cachexia mediated by cytokines (e.g., TNF-α, CRP, IL-6) that promote lipolysis and muscle proteolysis [54], and psycho-neuroendocrine disturbances associated with nutritional decline [55,56].