Nutritional Support for Cancer Patients

Products and Guidance thoughout Cancer Care

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A female healthcare professional speaks with a oncology patient about nutrition during cancer treatment, including Fresubin's range of nutritional products for oncology patients.

Nutritional Support for Cancer Patients

Nutrition: A Core Pillar of Cancer Care Provision

Malnutrition, sarcopenia and cachexia are frequent in cancer, affecting more than 50% of patients¹⁻³, with consequences including: Poorer overall survival⁴, Reduced quality of life⁵, Longer hospital stays and post-operative complications. ^6,7

Silent Progression

Muscle loss is common during cancer and often goes unnoticed. Weight may appear stable even as nutritional deficit and muscle wasting silently progress.⁸

Early Screening

Routine nutritional screening, initiated at diagnosis and repeated throughout treatment, is essential to identify risk before malnutrition-related symptoms become established.⁹

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Integrated Support

When incorporated into clinical routine, ONS provide a practical and effective way to prevent or reverse malnutrition-related symptoms across the oncology treatment pathway.⁹

Blue icon of a cross with arrows circling around it

Providing a Patient-Centric Solution

Conditions like sarcopenia negatively impact treatment tolerance and outcomes in oncology,10 making nutrition harder to manage and leading to loss of appetite and other symptoms that can set up a vicious cycle.

For this reason, nutrition must be considered holistically, drawing on an understanding of patients’ preferences and feeding capabilities to maximise adherence and achieve positive outcomes.

Offering a range of tastes, textures and sizes, Fresubin® and Supportan® products* provide a way to cater to your patients’ personal and nutritional needs, whether they’re pre-operative, undergoing medical treatment, or in recovery.

A woman in a blue headscarf smiles as she eats her breakfast with Fresubin Supportan Cappuccino-flavoured Drink to support her nutritional needs.

What Can Help When Food Intake Isn't Enough?

The Variety to Support Adherence

Our wide product range is designed to make nutritional intake as easy as possible for oncology patients, supporting their needs or preferences.

Supportan Drink / Tube Feed: Tailored to the metabolic changes oncology patients experience.
Fresubin 2 KCAL (FIBRE) Drink / CREME: Available in different formats to support variety and patient needs.
Fresubin 3.2 KCAL Drink: High caloric and protein content, in a variety of flavours.
Survimed OPD 1.5 KCAL Drink: Designed for easy absorption.

The Fresubin oncology range includes Supportan Drink, 2KCAL FIBRE Drink, OPD 1.5KCAL Drink, 3.2KCAL Drink and 2KCAL Crème to offer oncology patients nutritional support in a range of formats and flavours.

Find Out More About Nutritional Support for Oncology

A woman laughs with her friend in a café knowing she is supported by Fresubin's nutritional range for oncology patients.

Staying Nourished Through Cancer Treatment

Mary, 56, was living with pancreatic cancer** and finding it hard to eat well due to pain and significant loss of appetite.

Working closely with her care team, her nutrition plan was carefully adapted at each stage, through surgery and chemotherapy, with Survimed OPD 1.5 KCAL Drink and Fresubin 2 KCAL Drink helping her maintain adequate nutrition and stay as strong as possible throughout her treatment journey.

**Clinical scenario. For Healthcare Professionals only. To be used under medical supervision. This case does not imply guaranteed outcomes.

A grandma smiles as she embraces her granddaughter knowing her cancer journey is supported by Fresubin's nutritional range for oncology patients.

Understanding Nutrition and Ageing

Explore nutritional support for ageing patients

An older man smiles towards a window knowing his nutritional needs are supported by Fresubin's range for older adults.

Supportan® Nutritional Support

Explore Supportan® products for cancer-specific nutritional support

A woman in a headscarf stands smiling behind her child thanks to the cancer-specific nutritional support provided by Fresubin's Supportan range.

Diben® Diabetes-specific Nutritional Support

Explore medical nutrition and diabetes

A man sits on a sofa and smiles as he enjoys a Diben Drink, part of Fresubin's Diben range designed to support the nutritional needs of those with diabetes.

Product factsheets can be downloaded here.

Fresubin 3.2 KCAL Drink Factsheet

Filename: Fresubin3.2kcalDrink_FS_HCP_Jul26.pdf
Size: 987 KB
Format: pdf

Supportan Drink Factsheet

Filename: Supportan_Drink_FS_HCP_Jul26.pdf
Size: 311 KB
Format: pdf

Survimed OPD 1.5 KCAL Drink Factsheet

Filename: Survimed_OPD1.5kcalDrink_FS_HCP_Nov2022.pdf
Size: 287 KB
Format: pdf

Supportan Factsheet

Filename: Supportan_FS_HCP_Jul26.pdf
Size: 1 MB
Format: pdf

Fresubin 2 KCAL (FIBRE) Drink Factsheet

Filename: Fresubin_2kcal(Fibre)_Drink_FS_Aug2026.pdf
Size: 1 MB
Format: pdf

Fresubin 2 KCAL CRÈME Factsheet

Filename: Fresubin_2kcalCreme_FS_HCP_Jul26.pdf
Size: 415 KB
Format: pdf

*Fresubin products are food for special medical purposes, to be used under medical supervision.

References:

1)    Caillet P, Liuu E, Raynaud Simon A, Bonnefoy M, Guerin O, Berrut G, Lesourd B, Jeandel C, Ferry M, Rolland Y, Paillaud E. Association between cachexia, chemotherapy and outcomes in older cancer patients: A systematic review. Clin Nutr. 2017 Dec;36(6):1473-1482. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.12.003. Epub 2016 Dec 18. PMID: 28017447.
2)    von Haehling S, Anker MS, Anker SD. Prevalence and clinical impact of cachexia in chronic illness in Europe, USA, and Japan: facts and numbers update 2016. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2016 Dec;7(5):507-509. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12167. Epub 2016 Nov 2. PMID: 27891294; PMCID: PMC5114624.
3)    Hébuterne X, Lemarié E, Michallet M, de Montreuil CB, Schneider SM, Goldwasser F. Prevalence of malnutrition and current use of nutrition support in patients with cancer. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2014 Feb;38(2):196-204. doi: 10.1177/0148607113502674. PMID: 24748626.
4)    Zhang X, Tang T, Pang L, Sharma SV, Li R, Nyitray AG, Edwards BJ. Malnutrition and overall survival in older adults with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Geriatr Oncol. 2019 Nov;10(6):874-883. doi: 10.1016/j.jgo.2019.03.002. Epub 2019 Mar 24. PMID: 30917937.
5)    de Oliveira LC, Abreu GT, Lima LC, Aredes MA, Wiegert EVM. Quality of life and its relation with nutritional status in patients with incurable cancer in palliative care. Support Care Cancer. 2020 Oct;28(10):4971-4978. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05339-7. Epub 2020 Feb 7. PMID: 32034514.
6)    D'Almeida CA, Peres WAF, de Pinho NB, Martucci RB, Rodrigues VD, Ramalho A. Prevalence of Malnutrition in Older Hospitalized Cancer Patients: A Multicenter and Multiregional Study. J Nutr Health Aging. 2020;24(2):166-171. doi: 10.1007/s12603-020-1309-4. PMID: 32003406; PMCID: PMC12879073.
7)    Na BG, Han SS, Cho YA, Wie GA, Kim JY, Lee JM, Lee SD, Kim SH, Park SJ. Nutritional Status of Patients with Cancer: A Prospective Cohort Study of 1,588 Hospitalized Patients. Nutr Cancer. 2018 Nov-Dec;70(8):1228-1236. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2019.1578392. Epub 2019 Mar 22. PMID: 30900926.
8)    Anjanappa M, Corden M, Green A, Roberts D, Hoskin P, McWilliam A, Choudhury A. Sarcopenia in cancer: Risking more than muscle loss. Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. 2020 Nov 9;16:50-57. doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2020.10.001. PMID: 33385074; PMCID: PMC7769854.
9)    Muscaritoli M, Arends J, Bachmann P, Baracos V, Barthelemy N, Bertz H, Bozzetti F, Hütterer E, Isenring E, Kaasa S, Krznaric Z, Laird B, Larsson M, Laviano A, Mühlebach S, Oldervoll L, Ravasco P, Solheim TS, Strasser F, de van der Schueren M, Preiser JC, Bischoff SC. ESPEN practical guideline: Clinical Nutrition in cancer. Clin Nutr. 2021 May;40(5):2898-2913. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2021.02.005. Epub 2021 Mar 15. PMID: 33946039.
10) Daly LE, Power DG, O'Reilly Á, Donnellan P, Cushen SJ, O'Sullivan K, Twomey M, Woodlock DP, Redmond HP, Ryan AM. The impact of body composition parameters on ipilimumab toxicity and survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. Br J Cancer. 2017 Jan;116(3):310-317. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2016.431. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PMID: 28072766; PMCID: PMC5294486.