Enteral and parenteral nutrition in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Energy imbalance, typically caused by a decrease in food intake, is responsible for weight loss as body tissues are consumed for fuel (1). In cancer patients, weight loss is an ominous sign predicting disease progression and shortened survival time (2,3). As a result, providing nutrition support for cancer patients has been proposed as a logical approach for improving clinical outcomes (1). However, some studies have reported increased complications and costs (4,5). However the readers are cautioned that the world of clinical nutrition is markedly changed in the last 3 decades, i.e., many technological innovations have significantly increased the cost effectiveness of nutrition support (commercial ‘all-in-one bags’, new enteral and parenteral formulas, peripheral insertion, new materials for venous and enteral accesses, etc.), whereas new strategies have successfully minimized the risk of complications (standardized “bundles” of evidence-based interventions, strict policies of antisepsis, education of healthcare operators, etc.)