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- Cancer : disease and nutrition are key determinants of patients' quality of lifePublication . Monteiro Grillo, Isabel; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Camilo, Maria; Ravasco, PaulaGoals of work: The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate quality of life (QoL), nutritional status and dietary intake taking into account the stage of disease and therapeutic interventions, (2) to determine potential interrelationships, and (3) to quantify the relative contributions of the cancer, nutrition and treatments on QoL. Patients and methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study conducted in 271 head and neck, oesophagus, stomach and colorectal cancer patients, the following aspects were evaluated: QoL (EORTC-QLQ C30), nutritional status (percent weight loss over the previous 6 months), usual diet (comprehensive diet history), current diet (24-h recall) and a range of clinical variables. Main results: Usual and current intakes differed according to the site of the tumour ( P=0.02). Patients with stage III/IV disease showed a significant reduction from their usual energy/protein intake ( P=0.001), while their current intakes were lower than in patients with stage I/II disease ( P=0.0002). Weight loss was greater in patients with stage III/IV disease than in those with stage I/II disease ( P=0.001). Estimates of effect size revealed that QoL function scores were determined in 30% by cancer location, in 20% by nutritional intake, in 30% by weight loss, in 10% by chemotherapy, in 6% by surgery, in 3% by disease duration and in 1% by stage of disease. Likewise in the case of symptom scales, 41% were attributed to cancer location, 22% to stage, 7% to nutritional intake, 7% to disease duration, 4% to surgery, 1% to weight loss and 0.01% to chemotherapy. Finally for single items, 30% were determined by stage, 20% by cancer location, 9% by intake, 4% by surgery, 3% by weight loss, 3% by disease duration and 1% by chemotherapy. Conclusions: Although cancer stage was the major determinant of patients' QoL globally, there were some diagnoses for which the impact of nutritional deterioration combined with deficiencies in nutritional intake may be more important than the stage of the disease process.
- Qualidade de vida em doentes com cancro gastrintestinal : qual o impacto da nutrição?Publication . Ravasco, Paula; Monteiro Grillo, isabel; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Camilo, Maria ErmelindaIntroduction: Nutrition and Quality of Life (QoL) are key issues. Aims: 1) to evaluate Quality of Life (QoL), nutritional status and dietary intake, taking into account the stage of disease and therapeutic interventions, 2) to determine potential inter-relations, 3) to quantify the relative contributions of cancer/nutrition/treatments on QoL. Methods: In 184 oesophagus, stomach and colon/rectum cancer patients, the following were evaluated: QoL (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire), nutritional status (% weight loss over the previous 6 months), usual diet (diet history), current diet (24 hr recall) and a range of clinical variables. Results: Stage III/IV patients showed a significant reduction from their usual energy/protein intake (p=0.001), worse in oesophagus (p=0.02), while current intakes were lower than in stage I/II patients (p=0.0002). Weight loss was greater in stage III/IV (p=0.001). Different diagnoses and cancer stages presented different patterns of QoL function scales (p=0,03), significantly and independently associated with nutritional factors (p=0,05). Patients in stage III/IV had increased symptomatology (p=0,003); symptom scales and single items were strongly associated with stage III/IV (p=0,04). Patients with stomach cancer presented the worst global QoL not significantly different from oesophagus, vs colon/rectum, p=0,02. Conclusions: In oesophageal, stomach and colon/rectum cancer, nutritional deterioration depends of diet intake, the latter is mainly determined by cancer location and stage. Patients' QoL was determined by cancer or nutrition-related factors with distinct relative weights. Due to this multidimensional construct, in which nutrition plays a major role, nutritional therapy must be integrated in early stages of the overall treatment.
- Nutritional deterioration in cancer : the role of disease and dietPublication . Ravasco, Paula; Monteiro Grillo, Isabel; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Camilo, Maria ErmelindaAims: Under-nutrition is a major source of morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. This prospective, cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relative contributions of cancer staging, duration and diet on patients' nutritional deterioration. Materials and methods: We included 205 consecutive patients (133 men and 72 women) with head and neck, gastro-oesophageal, colon and rectum cancer, age 53 +/- 12 (33-86) years, referred for radiotherapy (primary, adjunctive to surgery, combined with chemotherapy or with palliative intent). We registered clinical variables, nutritional status (percentage of weight loss, Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment and body mass index), nutritional requirements, usual diet intake (diet history) and current intake (24-h recall). Results: In stage III and IV, we observed a significant decrease of usual and current energy and protein intake (P=0.002), which were not observed in stage I and II. Reduction in nutritional intake was influenced by disease duration (P=0.04), but when the latter was evaluated in a multivariate analysis, current dietary intake was associated only with staging (P=0.004), thus disclosing a distinct pattern of nutritional intake between stages and diagnosis. Using a general linear model, advanced staging showed the most significant association with nutritional depletion (P=0.0001). We also found significant associations for tumour location (P=0.001), disease duration (P=0.002), nutritional intake (P=0.003) and previous surgery or chemotherapy (P=0.02). Percentage weight loss showed a consistently superior performance with regard to clinical variables and ability to detect mild to extreme nutritional changes. Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment had a very high sensitivity and specificity, and a strong capacity for detecting patients at nutritional risk compared with body mass index. Conclusions: Nutritional depletion is multifactorial, dependent mainly on the tumour burden of the host. Percentage weight loss is a sensitive and specific tool that can screen and identify malnutrition effectively. Its joint use with Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment, which establishes boundaries for nutritional therapy, will optimise the efficacy of nutritional assessment and support in cancer patients.