Abstract

PISTOIA, L. F.; DE ABREU NUNES, C. H.; ANDREATTA GOTTSCHALL, B.  and  RABITO, E. I.. Dietary intake of cancer patients on radiotherapy. Nutr. Hosp. [online]. 2012, vol.27, n.6, pp.1936-1939. ISSN 1699-5198.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3305/nh.2012.27.6.5958.

The dietary intake of cancer patients can affect their nutritional status. Objectives: To assess the dietary intake and nutritional status of head and neck cancer patients on radiotherapy. Methods: 24-hour recalls and anthropometric measures were taken during the first and third weeks of radiotherapy. Results: Of the 62 patients, significant reductions were found in arm muscle area (p = 0.001) and arm muscle circumference (p < 0.001), and 69% of patients had an average weight loss of 5.7% in three weeks. With regards to their dietary intake, reductions were found in energy (26.5 kcal/kg/d-21.3 kcal/kg/d, p < 0.001), carbohydrate (196.9 g/d - 180.5 g/d, p = 0.020), protein (1.19 g/kg/d-0.93 g/kg/d, p = 0.009) and fat (44.4 g/d-33.1 g/d, p < 0.001) intakes during the study period. Discussion: The changes that result from cancer radiotherapy led to reductions in dietary intake and negatively affected body composition measures.

Keywords : Nutritional status; Radiation therapy; Head and neck cancer.

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