Plain language summary
Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial condition that reveals impairments in energy and protein balance leading to weight loss through the loss of skeletal muscle and body fat. Nutritional status of cancer patients affects therapeutic efficacy, and the disease survival is influenced by the degree of anorexia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids fortified nutrition supplement intervention on nutritional status, quality of life (QOL) and pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations of cancer patients. This study was a randomised controlled study. Participants (n = 58) included in the study were patients who were in stages between II to IV receiving one or more cancer therapies without taking any nutritional supplements. Both control and experimental groups received regular nutrition counselling and education, while only the experimental group was asked to take oral nutrition supplements (ONS) twice a day (400 ml, 400 kcal). Results show that ONS intervention: - alleviated symptoms of gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting and constipation; - exerted improvements in many of QOL indices; and - did not improve (statistically significant) biochemical markers of nutritional status and concentration level of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Authors conclude that nutritional supplements can improve some of the QOL components which need evidence-based explanation in mechanistic aspects.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients often experience severe malnutrition during cancer therapies due to gastrointestinal dysfunctions including poor digestion and absorption as well as tumor-associated anorexia. In this study, we performed a randomized clinical trial to determine the efficacy of oral nutrition supplement (ONS) enriched with omega-3 fatty acids on nutritional status, quality of life (QOL), and pro-inflammatory indices. METHODS Patients diagnosed with GI cancers were recruited and screened for eligibility. A total of 58 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=27) or the experimental group (n=31). The intervention group received 200 ml ONS twice a day while the control group received routine care. Anthropometrics, Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) score, QOL score and nutrient intake data were collected at baseline, week 4 and week 8. Blood was drawn for biochemical assessments. Nine patients from each group dropped out of the study Forty patients (18 control patients and 22 intervention patients) completed the study. RESULTS This study showed that ONS intervention improved PG-SGA scores in the intervention group (p<0.01). Scores of physical functioning score and role functioning were declined only in the control group and the difference between week 8 and baseline for role functioning was significant (p<0.001). Fatigue score was steadily decreased in the experiment group, and the differences between week 8 and baseline was significant between two groups (p<0.02). However, no statistically significant improvement in biochemical markers of nutritional status and pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations were found. These results suggests that ONS intervention for 8 weeks improves PG-SGA scores and QOL scores in patients undergoing cancer therapy.
Methodological quality
Jadad score
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3
Allocation concealment
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Yes
