Onkológia 2/2010

New methods of nutritional support in cancer cachexia

Cachexia is a hazardous complication of the majority of malignant diseases and deteriorates the results of chemotherapy, surgical treatment, actinotherapy and significantly worsens prognosis of the disease. Conventional nutritional support using enteral liquid formulas is not effective enough and preparations based on nutritional pharmacology and organ-specific activities are used recently. The most significant improvement in these preparations was achieved by the implementation of ω-3 fatty acids and soluble fermentable fibre. In addition to supression of cachexia and inflammation, these preparations are supposed to protect bowel barrier damaged by malnutrition and chemotherapy.

Keywords: cancer cachexia, nutritional support, enteral nutrition, ω-3 fatty acids, disease specific nutrition.