摘要
Nutritional status is often neglected or under evaluated in patients with cancer,despite international guidelines suggest that nutritional deterioration negatively affects patients’survival.Preoperative malnutrition increases postoperative complications and mortality and prolongs hospital stay.Nutritional support must be given to undernourished cancer patients,as it can bring many clinical and economic advantages.Today,an inadequate nutritional support for cancer patients should be considered ethically unacceptable.Minimally invasive surgical techniques result in less operative blood loss,decreased surgical stress response,and less postoperative pain and discomfort.When associated to enhanced recovery pathway(ERP),a quicker recovery and a shorter hospital stay are obtained.Thus far,routine nutritional care and ERP have only been incorporated into the clinical practice in a minority of hospitals.Possible reasons are an insufficient awareness of the clinical relevance of undernutrition and a lack of structured collaboration between surgeons and clinical nutrition specialists.This review suggests that a better cooperation among healthcare providers,patients,and families would bring tremendous clinical benefits to patients with cancer,especially those undergoing surgery,radiotherapy,and chemotherapy.
