Nutritional support for the cancer patient

Abstract

Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome clinically manifest by progressive involuntary weight loss and diminished food intake and characterized by a variety of biochemical alterations. Importantly, cancer cachexia has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality and decreased response to therapy. The impact of cancer cachexia on patient outcome and healthcare resources continues to be significant. It is therefore important to identify those cancer patients who are malnourished in an attempt to reverse or at least abate the progression of malnutrition. The goal of nutritional supplementation is to translate repletion into clinical benefit, thereby decreasing morbidity or mortality and increasing the response rate to treatment. The focus of this chapter is to review the etiology of cancer cachexia, summarize the biologic and clinical effects of nutrition, define specific indications for nutrition in the cancer patient population, and explore new therapies available to reverse cancer cachexia. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.