Malnutrition induced by cancer and oncology treatment

Abstract

Malnutrition as a consequence of the disease occurs most often in cancer patients, not only because of the cancer itself, but also because of the oncological treatment. The most important cause is chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy and onco-surgery. Therefore, efforts are being made all over the world to find different ways to solve this difficult medical problem. Given that the mechanism of malnutrition caused by cancer is not sufficiently elucidated, the efforts made to design an adequate approach and treatment of this disorder are often unsuccessful. In order to improve the nutritional status of oncology patients, their nutritional disorder should be adequately diagnosed and then specific measurements should be performed (determination of body composition, the proportion of water, fat, muscle, as well as the determination of various biomarkers in the blood, for example markers inflammation). In this way, it is possible to formulate a multimodal approach to the treatment of malnutrition in oncology patients, which would include the intake of adequate foods, increased physical activity and personalized supplementation.