Immunonutrition and the cancer treatment

Abstract

Introduction: The binomial diet and nutrition is related with the causes and the consequences of cancer. Although the exact mechanisms are still unknown, nutrition can modify the process of treating cancer at any stage. The nutritional status is affected directly by both tumor and administered treatment, requiring special handling. When there is depletion of nutritional status, decreased immune function is associated, which promotes the advance of the disease. Therefore, the imunonutrition could collaborate decreasing the rate of infections and the duration of hospitalization. Objective: To review the role of imunonutrition in improving the response to cancer treatment. Materials and Methods: We have performed an exploratory literature review study using the databases PubMed and LILACS, dating from 1998, using the following indexing terms: immunomodulators, cancer and nutrition therapy. Bibliographic literature material based in the subject in question and other articles of relevance were included. Results: The review was conducted with seven studies. Also, it was included five chapters from bibliographic material and three other relevant articles in the same field. The results were organized in one category and three themes: imunonutrition in the cancer treatment, including concept and characteristics, time of immunomodulatory administration diets and malignancies in which imunonutrition is more involved. Conclusions: Few studies with significant results were found when compared to standard diets, indicating that it´s not possible to state with certainty the benefits of immunonutrition, related to the administration time of fortified formulas with these immunomodulators, in the treatment of cancer patients. The benefit related to the decreased rate of infections and the duration of hospitalization is associated to the type of surgical treatment of cancer.