Význam výživy u onkologického pacienta // SOLEN

Via practica 6/2019

The importance of nutrition in cancer patients

Majority of cancer patients suffer from different forms of malnutrition. Malnutrition causes reducing the quality of life, decrease of vital functions, higher rate of complications and worse response to anticancer treatment. Cancer cachexia is defined as a multifactorial syndrome defined by an ongoing loss of skeletal muscle mass (with or without loss of fat mass) that cannot be fully reversed by conventional nutritional support and leads to progressive functional impairment. Early detection of nutritional risk and nutritional intervention can prevent development of manifest malnutrition. Increasing grade of weight loss means a significant average shortening of overall survival in different types of tumors. Proper and adequate nutrition is important condition for success of cancer patient treatment.

Keywords: malnutrition, cachexia, nutritional risk, nutritional intervention