•Cancer-associated cachexia is mainly characterized by skeletal muscle and adipose loss, release of pro-cachectic factors by cancer and immune cells and energy imbalance.•Cancer cachexia is prominent in many types of cancer and it is associated with poor prognosis.•MiRNAs and lncRNAs implicated in muscle atrophy, lipolysis, adipose browning and inflammation are deregulated in muscle or adipose tissue in cancer cachexia patients or animal models of cancer cachexia.•Deregulated ncRNAs are found in circulation or in circulating exosomes in cancer cachexia patients. Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by skeletal muscle loss, with or without adipose atrophy, irreversible through nutritional support, in the context of systemic inflammation and metabolic disorders. It is mediated by inflammatory reaction and affects almost 50% of all cancer patients, due to prominent systemic inflammation associated with the disease. The comprehension of the molecular mechanisms that are implicated in cancer cachexia sheds light on its pathogenesis and lays the foundations for the discovery of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers. Recently, ncRNAs, like microRNAs as well as lncRNAs and circRNAs seem to regulate pathways that are implicated in cancer cachexia pathogenesis, as it has been observed in animal models and in cancer cachexia patients, highlighting their therapeutic potential. Moreover, increasing evidence highlights the involvement of circulating and exosomal ncRNAs in the activation and maintenance of systemic inflammation in cancer and cancer-associated cachexia. In that context, the present review focuses on the clinical significance of ncRNAs in cancer-associated cachexia. Display omitted