Integral nutritional approach to the care of cancer patients: results from a Delphi panel

• M. Durán-Poveda ^[1] ; P. Jimenez-Fonseca ^[2] ; M. Sirvent-Ochando ^[5] ; P. P. García-Luna ^[3] ; J. L. Pereira-Cunill ^[3] ; B. Lema-Marqués ^[6] ; M. T. Parejo-Arrondo ^[4] ; C. Belda-Iniesta ^[7]
  1. [1] Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos

     Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos

     Móstoles, España

     
  2. [2] Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias

     Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias

     Oviedo, España

     
  3. [3] Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío

     Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío

     Sevilla, España

     
  4. [4] Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus

     Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus

     Reus, España

     
  5. [5] Hospital HLA-Vistahermosa, España
  6. [6] Clínica Diagonal, Esplugues de Llobregat, España
  7. [7] Centro Integral Oncológico Clara Campal, España

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• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 20, Nº. 9 (September 2018), 2018, págs. 1202-1211
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Introduction Malnutrition is a common complication in cancer patients and can negatively affect the outcome of treatments. This study aimed to reach a consensus on nutritional needs and optimize nutritional care in the management of cancer patients at a national level.

    Methods A qualitative, multicenter, two-round Delphi study involving 52 specialists with experience in nutritional support in cancer patients was conducted.

    Results Regarding the presence of malnutrition, 57.7% of the participants stated that < 30% of the patients had malnutrition at the time of diagnosis, 40.4% considered that 31–50% had malnutrition during cancer treatment, and 26.9% that > 50% at the end of the treatment. Forty percent of participants believed that the main objective of nutritional treatment was to improve quality of life and 34.6% to improve tolerability and adherence to chemotherapy. The quality nutritional care provided at their centers was rated as medium–low by 67.3%. Enteral and parenteral nutrition was administered to less than 10% and less than 5% of patients in 40.4 and 76.9% of cases, respectively. In relation to nutritional screening at the time of diagnosis, 62.9% of participants considered than screening to assess the risk of malnutrition was performed in < 30% of patients.

    Conclusions There is an important variability in the management of cancer patient nutrition, which is associated with the absence of a national consensus on nutritional support in this field. Given the incidence of nutritional disorders in cancer patients, a specialist in clinical nutrition (regardless of his/her specialty) should be integrated into the strategic cancer plan.