Tube feeding in cancer patients

Malnutrition is a frequent problem in cancer patients and it is often accompanied by the loss of muscle mass. Both are closely connected to reduced physical activity and a poor dietary intake, but also to catabolic metabolic derangements. The consequence can be a negative clinical outcome.¹
Approximately half of all cancer patients are at risk of developing a syndrome of cachexia, which results in losing body fat and muscle mass as well as being anorexic. This is not only leading to a decreasing quality of life of the patient, but can also have a negative impact on chemotherapy treatment response and survival rate.²

The following four example cases illustrate how patients with different types of cancer may benefit from tube feeding:

• Tube feeding during radical chemoradiation for head and neck cancer
• Short-term naso-gastric tube feeding following lung cancer diagnosis
• Jejunostomy feeding in oesophageal cancer
• Short term feeding following stem cell transplant