What effect does poor nutrition have on cancer patients?
Inability to maintain nutritional status is a particularly common problem for persons with cancer. The disease process and its treatment can lead to severe protein-calorie malnutrition, which is the single most common paraneoplastic syndrome or secondary diagnosis in the cancer patient. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Protein-calorie malnutrition exists when the intake of macronutrients is inadequate to meet metabolic requirements. Progressive wasting, weakness, debilitation, compromised immune function, potential therapy intolerance, and ultimately death may result. Anorexia, the loss of appetite or desire to eat, is the most common symptom in people with cancer that may occur early in the disease process or later as the tumor grows and metastasizes. Anorexia is present in 15%-25% of all cancer patients at the time of diagnosis and is almost universal in patients with widely metastatic disease. Anorexia is the most common cause of decreased nutrient intake triggering m
