Nutritional Intervention Improves Nutrition Outcomes in Stomach and Colon Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: Finding from a Quasi-Experiment in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: Evidence on the effects of nutritional interventions on gastrointestinal cancer patients receiving chemotherapy is not well documented. This study aims to assess the effects of nutritional intervention in patients diagnosed with stomach and colon cancer receiving chemotherapy in Vietnam. Methods: A quasi-experiment with intervention and control groups for pre- and post-intervention was carried out in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in a university hospital in Vietnam. Patients in the intervention group were provided nutritional counseling, personalized specific dietary advice, and received oral nutrition supplements (ONSs) while patients in the control group only received nutrition counseling. Results: The weight in the intervention and control group after 2 months increased significantly by 1.4 ± 2.6 kg and 0.4 ± 2.3 kg, respectively. Muscle mass increased by 1.2 ± 4.1 cm in the intervention group, while those in the control group decreased by 0.55 ± 2.77 cm. There was no statistical significance between two groups after intervention in terms of Mid–Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) and percentage of fat. The percentage of malnutrition based on the Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and Body Mass Index (BMI) declined after the intervention in both groups. According to the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) using the propensity score matching and DiD method, participants receiving the intervention were more likely to have a higher score of weight (Coef = 0.84; 95%CI = 0.47; 2.16) and muscle mass (Coef = 1.08; 95%CI = 0.09; 2.06) between pre- and post-intervention. By contrast, the PG-SGA scores on treated participants were more likely to decrease after the intervention (Coef = −1.28; 95%CI = −4.39; −0.84). After matching, being female, living in rural areas, or having stomach cancer were still positively related to being moderately/severely malnourished by the PG-SGA, and these findings were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The nutritional interventions had a positive effect on weight gain, muscle mass, and reduced malnutrition. Further studies with a longer follow-up duration are needed to confirm the effects of the intervention.

Soypeptide supplementation attenuates weight loss and improves quality of life among brain cancer patients in a pilot study

“…Another study involving mice revealed that administering quercetin (another flavonoid in soybean) supplements significantly decreased body weight loss, thus attenuating the progression of cancer cachexia (Velázquez et al, 2014). Similarly, cancer patients who received oral nutrition supplements in a quasi-experimental study benefited positively by experiencing an increase in their weight and muscle mass (Huong et al, 2021). supported by some evidence in literature, which has shown that cancer patients who received nutritional therapy with high-protein intake resulted in an improvement of their QoL and physical functioning and performance (Chen et al, 2022;Isenring, 2013;Nguyen et al, 2021).…”

“…Another study involving mice revealed that administering quercetin (another flavonoid in soybean) supplements significantly decreased body weight loss, thus attenuating the progression of cancer cachexia (Velázquez et al., 2014). Similarly, cancer patients who received oral nutrition supplements in a quasi‐experimental study benefited positively by experiencing an increase in their weight and muscle mass (Huong et al., 2021).…”

Iron and calcium nutrition interventions among Vietnamese women

“…It is effective in minimizing selection bias to control for confounding variables and to rule out chance [19], [20]. There are also some previous studies that assessed the impact of nutrition interventions using this method [21], [22]. Since the sampling was not random, the difference in differences method (DiD) [20] was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention for nutritional indicators in both groups.…”

Efektivitas Intervensi Edukasi Nutrisi pada Ostomate Paska Operasi Digestif

“…Hasilnya didapat pasien di kelompok kontrol dalam 2 bulan mengalami peningkatan berat badan 1.4 ± 2.6 kg and 0.4 ± 2.3 kg. Pada kelompok intervensi menunjukkan peningkatan ukuran massa otot 1.2 ± 4.1 cm (Huong et al, 2021).…”

“…Banyak efek samping dari pengobatan ini diantaranya nafsu makan menurun, dispepsia, kelelahan, konstipasi, diare, disfagia, perubahan sensitivitas terhadap suhu makanan, xerostomia, anemia, dan rasa cepat kenyang. Faktor-faktor tersebut berhubungan dengan penurunan asupan makanan, penurunan penyerapan nutrisi, perubahan komposisi tubuh, dan akibatnya dapat menyebabkan malnutrisi dan cachexia (Huong et al, 2021).…”