The nutritional status of the cancer patient is very important for antineoplastic treatment because a condition of malnutrition can negatively interfere with the tolerability of therapeutic regimens and the results of therapies. In fact, malnutrition is associated with a worsening of the quality of life, an increase in the complication rate and / or worse post-operative outcomes, an increase in the length of hospital stay, a lower tolerance to anticancer treatments and an increase in toxicity that often leads to the suspension of antineoplastic treatments. Furthermore, the severity of malnutrition is an important predictor of lower survival. This is what emerged today during the online presentation of the new “Consensus Document – The management of cancer patients with nutritional problems”Promoted by NHSc (Nestlé Health Science).
The Consensus Document through 13 statements aims to improve the management of the entire path starting from the level of training and awareness on the part of clinicians and the need for the early involvement of a clinical nutrition expert within the multidisciplinary team, in order to promptly intercept the cases most at risk and intervene in the most appropriate way.
The proposal for a new patient management model – it was stressed several times during the presentation – also aims to increase the attention of institutional stakeholders to ensure that nutritional supports are recognized as a real therapy and are therefore accessible and provided free of charge to all patients even outside the hospital setting.
Finally, by suggesting new paths and new roles for those involved, the hope is to foster communication, collaboration and coordination between the members of the multidisciplinary team and improve the integration between hospital and territory in order to ensure continuity of care and the most appropriate management of all cases.
The Consensus Document provided for the establishment of a Strategic Board (composed by Kols in close contact with the cancer patient) and an Advisory Board (which saw the participation of stakeholders from three Italian regions: Lombardy, Tuscany and Puglia), both boards were multidisciplinary in composition.
They have been conducted 40 one-to-one interviews with key players involved in the management of clinical nutrition in patients with head-neck and gastrointestinal cancer: head-neck and gastrointestinal oncologists; head-neck and gastrointestinal oncological surgeons; radiotherapists; clinical nutrition experts; nurses and caregivers / patients, with the aim of investigating the current model of patient care, nutritional problems, identifying critical issues and possible areas for improvement.
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