Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

The effect of nutrition impact symptoms after completion of curative intent treatment in people with gastric, oesophageal and pancreatic cancer on nutrition status; a systematic review (126601)

Emma McShane 1 2 , Lauren Hanna 3 , Carmel Zoanetti 2 , Lisa Murnane 2 , Brenton Baguley 4 , Kate Furness 1
  1. Department of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. Nutrition & Dietetics Department, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  3. Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Notting Hill, VIC, Australia
  4. Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Objectives and Purpose
Cancers of the upper-gastrointestinal (UGI) tract, including gastric, oesophageal, and pancreatic cancers are among the most frequently diagnosed cancers globally. Five year survival rates remain low (approximately less than 30%) but are slowly improving due to advances in curative treatments. Treatments for these cancers are often associated with long-term nutrition-related side effects which are frequently under-recognised, under-diagnosed and under-treated, increasing the risk of malnutrition and its associated poor outcomes. This review characterises nutrition impact symptoms that occur following curative-intent treatment for UGI cancers, and evaluates their effects on nutritional status.

 

Sample and Setting

Four electronic databases were searched to identify studies involving adults who had undergone curative-intent treatment for UGI cancers. Included studies reported nutrition impact symptoms and nutritional outcomes using a validated tool.

 

Procedure:
A systematic search was conducted, data was extracted, study quality was assessed and results were synthesised narratively.

 

Results
Eleven studies, involving 953 participants, were included. Participants were predominantly male (68%), and surgery was the primary treatment (91%). Most studies (n=10) used a validated tool to assess nutrition-related symptoms. Reflux was the most frequently reported symptom (n=8 studies). Other common symptoms included abdominal pain (n=6), diarrhoea (n=6) and constipation (n=4). Various validated tools were used to assess malnutrition, including the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (64% of studies), Mini Nutritional Assessment (18%), Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (9%), and Prognostic Nutritional Index (9%). All studies reported a proportion of participants as malnourished following treatment, ranging from approximately 29-87%.

 

Conclusion and Clinical Implications
Nutrition impact symptoms are common and persistent following curative treatment for UGI cancers. They can contribute to declining nutritional status and highlight the need for long-term, specialised dietetic support. Validated assessment tools are essential for improving symptom and nutrition status recognition to enhance their management