Malnutrition and the Role of Nutritional Support for Radiation Therapy Patients

Nutritional status of cancer patients and its relationship to function in an inpatient rehabilitation setting

“…Previous studies also have shown an association between malnutrition and poor functional status [8,9,14,18,20,37]. Our study concurred these reports and showed that the prealbumin concentration of patients on admission was related to their motor functional status at that time.…”

“…In some studies [8,20,37], the Karnofsky performance status scale was used; this scale [15] is probably the most widely used measure within oncology. Unfortunately, the Karnofsky performance status scale is a subjective gross measure of health status that has not been associated with cost of care; it also does not include reference to mental or social function.…”

Strength of skeletal muscle and quality of life in patients suffering from “typical male” carcinomas

“…In the present study, due to a significantly lower assessment on the QOL subscale PFI, physical performance was significantly more impaired in group 2 (patients with head and neck cancers) than in group 1 (patients with prostate cancer). Impairment of physical performance in patients with head and neck cancer is known often to be related to abuse of alcohol and tobacco and malnutrition (due to alcohol and tobacco abuse, dysphagia, or xerostomia after radical operation technique or radiotherapy) in general [9,12,15,16].…”

Nutritional support in patients with oesophageal cancer

“…As a consequence, quality of life could be maintained [86], interruptions of treatment could be prevented [23,86] and frequency of hospital admissions could be reduced [23,48].…”