Improving Food Pleasure and Intake of Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Improving Food Pleasure and Intake of Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

The global cancer burden is estimated to have risen to 18.1 million new cases in 2018 (WHO), with a trend of ongoing growth. This very frequent illness exerts tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems.

Malnutrition (under- or over-nutrition) is highly prevalent in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and is an important predictor of morbidity, mortality, treatment response and toxicity. Alterations in taste and smell are frequently reported as side effect of chemotherapy and may contribute strongly to malnutrition and to a worsen quality of life and wellbeing social, emotional, and role functioning. There are evidences that chemotherapy influences food liking and appetite with implications for food behaviours, including food enjoyment, food preference and dietary intake. A linkage between alterations in taste and /or smell and food behaviours has been reported by some studies but not all, suggesting that there is a need for more research using common standardised methodologies and larger sample size to gain a further insight into this topic.

Inclusion Criteria:

• pathological diagnosis of colorectal or breast cacer
• indication to adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer according local guide lines
• indication to (neo)-adjuvant chemotherapy for reast cancer according local guide lines
• possiility to sign an informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients aged <18 years
• patients aged >80 years