Abstract
Chemotherapy may negatively affect nutritional status and quality of life (QOL) in pancreatic cancer patients. Our aim was to investigate the beneficial effects of oral nutrition supplements (ONS) on pancreatic and bile duct cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Among patients with progressive pancreatic and bile duct cancer receiving chemotherapy, the ONS group (n = 15) received two packs of ONS daily for 8 weeks while the non-ONS group (n = 19) did not. Anthropometric measures, dietary intake, nutritional status, and quality of life were assessed. ONS significantly increased daily intakes of energy, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids at 8 weeks compared to the baseline. After 8 weeks, fat mass significantly increased in the ONS group. For patients in their first cycle of chemotherapy, body weight, fat-free mass, skeletal muscle mass, body cell mass, and fat mass increased in the ONS group but decreased in the non-ONS group. Fat mass increased in second or higher cycle only in the ONS group. Patient-generated subjective global assessments (PG-SGA) and fatigue scores in the Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) improved in the ONS group. ONS might improve nutritional status by increasing fat mass and/or maintaining the body composition of pancreatic and bile duct cancer patients with chemotherapy, especially those in the first cycle, and alleviate fatigue symptoms.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer is the 13th most common cancer, and its mortality rate ranks eighth among all cancer types [1]
We investigated the effects of oral nutrition supplements (ONS) on pancreatic and bile duct cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy by examining changes in nutritional status, nutritional intake and quality of life (QoL) with EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30)
Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy require sufficient nutritional intervention to maintain body weight for a better prognosis because chemotherapy increases their risk of malnutrition and weight loss [9]
Summary
Pancreatic cancer is the 13th most common cancer, and its mortality rate ranks eighth among all cancer types [1]. The high recurrence rate of pancreatic cancer after operation increases the frequency of treatment with chemotherapy, even when discovered at an early stage [3]. Despite the advantages of chemotherapy, it causes diverse nutritional side effects due to its non-selective action on normal cells. These include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and stomatitis, which can disturb oral food intake and digestive nutrient absorption [4], which accompany weight loss, decreased anticancer drug reaction rate, increased anticancer drug toxicity [5], reduced survival rate [6], and reduced quality of life (QoL) [7]. Constant monitoring and early nutritional intervention are crucial for the prevention of malnutrition in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy [9]
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