Metabolic effects of nutritional support to cancer patients.

An adequate understanding of the utilization of administered nitrogen and energy sources as well as the regulation of whole body energy expenditure are important factors for maintaining body weight and body composition. The efficacy and metabolic consequences of adjunct nutritional support to cachectic cancer patients has recently been investigated in a number of studies. This review examines some recent investigations in this area. Depleted cancer patients seem to have a slightly higher resting energy expenditure but a normal metabolic and energetic response to administration of energy substrates. Studies of protein metabolism suggest that depleted cancer patients have a disturbed metabolic response of protein anabolism compared with depleted controls. This could be due to differences in peripheral versus visceral tissues. Adjunct nutritional support plays an important role in restoring the depleted cancer patients although clear correlation to functional parameters is still lacking.