I am proud to invite you to follow a new series of articles on clinical nutrition in oncology in Nowotwory. Journal of Oncology. Modern oncology is a field of continuous progress in surgery, radiotherapy and systemic treatment. However, the last decades have clearly shown that the use of clinical nutrition can significantly improve the results of oncological treatment.
Nutritional support extends the overall survival rate, disease progression-free time, the frequency of complications, particularly infectious ones, the length of hospital stay and treatment costs. Even in the advanced stage of the disease, parenteral nutrition contributed to the extension of survival time by an average of 70 days, and in pancreatic and gastric cancer, even by 3–4 months. It is known that malnutrition is a phenomenon that often accompanies cancer. Depending on its type, it occurs in 30–80% of patients at diagnosis. 1/3 of patients worsen nutritional status in the hospital, and 10–20% of oncological patients die of malnutrition and not disease progression.
Hoping for your interest in this subject, I encourage you to read the first article in the series Glucose metabolism disorders in cancer patients by Katarzyna Różycka and me. I am convinced that adding nutritional support to the routine practice of an oncologist will support your therapeutic success.
Aleksandra Kapała
Section Editor
Nutrition in oncology