Nutrition in the Patient with Cancer Clinical Physiological and Therapeutic Aspects

The relationships between nutrition and cancer are as broad as they are conflictive because they encompass the wide spectrum of nuances with which they causally interact. Since times past there has been medical concern about malnutrition in cancer patients, but it is undoubtedly since notable progress has been made about therapeutic options for cancer that nutritional aspects have taken on special importance. This is since when more aggressive therapeutic strategies are applied, there is less tolerance to these treatments and greater morbidity from them, in patients with deterioration of their nutritional status. At present, recent advances in the field of neurobiology have shed light on the participation of neurotransmitters in the mechanisms of anorexia. On the other hand, malnutrition in carriers of neoplasms is closely linked to the negative impact of economic variables, quality of life and survival. De Wys et al., more than 2 decades ago, were among the first to draw attention to this issue, reporting that more than 50% of the 3,000 patients included in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group had marked weight loss. Other studies, such as those by Shils et al., show different degrees of nutritional compromise in patients undergoing major surgery for cancer.