[Palliative therapy in cancer 2. Nutrition control]

Abstract

Deterioration in nutritional status occurs late in the progress of cancers at certain sites, but at all stages in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Weight loss with decrease in body fat and muscle wastage, occurs to a varying degree. Superficially, the clinical condition resembles simple food deprivation. However, the derangements in metabolism are often and some patients show an elevated resting energy expenditure, disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism and generally, a failure to adapt to reduced food intake, which is characteristic of cachexia. Cancer cachexia then becomes characterized by signs of marked negative energy and protein balance, including hypoalbuminemia, weight loss, and anemia. On the other hand, toxohormone extracted from tumor tissues was considered as the main cause to produce cancer cachexia. However, it has become clearer that cytokines, e.g. cachectin/TNF, IL-1, LT and IFN gamma play an important role to produce cachexia. Patients who are malnourished have an incidence of postoperative complications double that seen in adequately nourished patients. The effectiveness of cancer-chemotherapy is also different in nutritional status of patients. Although in patients requiring hyperalimentation, enteral nutritional support may feasible and enteral feeding has a distinct metabolic advantage compared with parenteral feeding, there is a definite role for total parenteral nutrition in patients who have severe chronic radiation enteritis, side effect of chemotherapy, weight loss and malabsorption. Tentative weight gain and correction of hypoalbuminemia without improving patient survival may be expected by this intravenous hyperalimentation.