Oncology refers to the section of medicine where the study, treatment and diagnosis of cancer are explored. Healthcare professionals are advised to make use of our extensive resource library to gain information that can be useful in extending or revising information for the benefit of daily practice, and or academic journey.
The good news is that cancer is no longer necessarily a death sentence. (1) Currently, one of the main areas of cancer research is immunotherapy, a treatment that harnesses the power of our immune system to identify and control diseases such as cancer.
This video addresses the latest evidence around the role of nutrition supplementation in patients with cancer. Many patients receiving cancer treatment may present with cancer cachexia. Learn current management strategies for oncology patients with this condition and nutrition interventions that can improve outcomes.
55 min watch
This program reviews the impact of malnutrition on the oncology patient and identifies options for increasing calorie and protein intake. Recent evidence around the consumption of oral nutrition supplements and outcomes is described including nutrition therapy considerations to assist with bowel management.
55 min watch
It is clear that nutritional wasting in cancer is not due solely to a nutrient deficit or tumor/host competition for essential nutrients, but to complex metabolic changes in tissues arising from anorexia, tumor progression, systemic inflammation, reduced muscle mass and function, tumor catabolic factors, increased by proinflammatory cytokines, as well as the psychosocial sequelae.
At a Nestle Nutrition Institute satellite symposium held at the Digestive Disorder Federation 2012 congress (DDF) chaired by Dr William Allum, leading experts discussed the important role that nutrition plays in the management of patients undergoing upper GI surgery. Dr Christophe Mariette explained the importance of nutrition in surgery treatment plans and assessed the evidence for pre-operative immunonutrition in decreasing the risk of post-operative infection, reducing the length of hospital stay and costs. Dr Clare Shaw discussed nutritional aspects of Enhanced Recovery Programmes involving pre-operative immunonutrition and carbohydrate loading.
The Global Cancer Observatory (the World Health Organisation’s international agency for research on cancer) states that oesophageal cancer is “the 9th most common cancer in the world, with over 300 000 new cases annually of which 80% occur in developing countries.
