Nutrition and patients’ outcomes in oncology

Patient outcomes in oncology was the focus of a Nestlé Nutrition Institute satellite symposium held during the 35th ESPEN Annual Congress in Leipzig. International experts focused on the association between cancer, cancer therapy and malnutrition, and considered the role of nutritional supplementation in helping to prevent or reverse weight loss with a subsequent improvement in quality of life for patients. The role of nutrition in improving adherence to chemotherapy through reduction of side effects was discussed, along with emerging evidence that specific nutritional components could have a direct effect in enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents.