Total parenteral nutrition and home parenteral nutrition: An effective combination to sustain malnourished children with cancer

Abstract

A patient with Wilms' tumor and severe failure to thrive required total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for 'catch-up' growth. This case underscores how TPN might be useful in the management of a child with cancer. Cancer cachexia, chemotherapy, radiation, and infections caused by immune suppression can lead to potentially serious macro- and micronutrient deficiencies.