Dietary intervention for adult survivors of cancers other than breast cancer: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Healthy eating and weight control are recommended for cancer survivors; however, dietary interventions are not routinely offered to them. This study aimed to assess the effects of dietary interventions on survival, nutritional status, morbidity, dietary changes, health-related quality of life (QOL), and clinical measures in cancer survivors. METHODS: Searches were conducted from October 1, 2018 to November 21, 2011 in the Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Emcare, and DARE electronic databases. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that involved individuals diagnosed with cancer, excluding conference abstracts, case studies, other reviews, and meta-analyses, and screened the articles. RESULTS: Eight studies were included in this meta-analysis. We observed significant improvements in QOL and clinical data in 3 of 6 studies and in one study, respectively, significant weight loss on anthropometry in 2 of 5 studies, and dietary improvement in 4 of 5 studies of adult cancer survivors. However, we did not observe any benefits of dietary intervention for cancer survivors with undernutrition. DISCUSSION: Dietary interventions for adult cancer survivors might contribute to improving their nutritional status; however, further clarification requires a study that standardizes the intervention method. Furthermore, RCTs are required to determine the effects on cancer survivors with undernutrition.

Impact of Perioperative Immunonutrition on Postoperative Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Head and Neck or Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgeries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether perioperative immunonutrition is effective in adult patients with or without malnutrition undergoing elective surgery for head and neck (HAN) or gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. BACKGROUND: It is important to avoid postoperative complications in patients with cancer as they can compromise clinical outcomes. There is no consensus on the efficacy of perioperative immunonutrition in patients with or without malnutrition undergoing HAN or GI cancer surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science Core Selection, and Emcare from 1981 to 2022 using search terms related to immunonutrition and HAN or GI cancer. We included randomized controlled trials. Intervention was defined as immunonutritional therapy including arginine, n-3 omega fatty acids, or glutamine during the perioperative period. The control was defined as standard nutritional therapy. The primary outcomes were total postoperative and infectious complications, defined as events with a Clavien-Dindo classification grade ≥ II that occurred within 30 days after surgery. RESULTS: Of the 4825 patients from 48 included studies, 19 had upper GI cancer, 9 had lower, and 8 had mixed cancer, whereas 12 had HAN cancers. Immunonutrition reduced the total postoperative complications (relative risk ratio: 0.78; 95% CI, 0.66-0.93; certainty of evidence: high) and infectious complications (relative risk ratio: 0.71; 95% CI, 0.61-0.82; certainty of evidence: high) compared with standard nutritional therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional intervention with perioperative immunonutrition in patients with HAN and GI cancers significantly reduced total postoperative complications and infectious complications.

Body mass index and weight change are associated with mortality in chronic kidney disease: A retrospective cohort study using a Japanese medical claims database.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate body mass index (BMI) and rate of weight change associated with adverse outcomes in Asian patients with chronic kidney disease. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed between April 2014 and June 2022 using the administrative claims database compiled by the Japan Medical Data Center. Patients were defined as individuals with comorbidities with chronic kidney disease stages 3 to 5 on admission and were aged ≥40 y with BMI at admission and BMI information from a previous admission 3 to 12 mo earlier. Restricted cubic spline analysis and thin-plate smoothed spline analysis were performed. RESULTS: A total of 10 802 individuals were analyzed. The mean age was 74.6 ± 11.3 y, number of men was 7175 (66.4%), and 2115 (19.6%) deaths were recorded. Smoothed splines for BMI found that low BMI was associated with high hazard ratio (HR) (BMI = 18.5 kg/m2; HR = 1.3 [1.2-1.4]). Smoothed splines of weight change found higher HR with increasing rate of weight change for both weight gain and loss (weight change rate = -10%; HR = 1.4 [1.3-1.5]; weight change rate = 10%; HR = 1.2 [1.1-1.3]). In thin-plate smoothed spline analysis, the U-curve had a higher odds ratio as BMI decreased in patients with or without dialysis and as the degree of weight change increased. CONCLUSIONS: We found trends in BMI and rate of weight change associated with mortality in Asian patients with chronic kidney disease.

Association of body mass index and weight change with death in patients with advanced cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Conventional diagnostic criteria for cachexia are based on Western studies. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in body mass index (BMI) and the rate of weight change associated with adverse outcomes in Asian patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using the administrative claims database compiled by the Japan Medical Data Center Inc. The study was conducted between April 2014 and September 2022 on patients with advanced cancer. A Cox regression model was used to perform a restricted cubic spline analysis with four knots for BMI and weight change. Additionally, thin-plate smoothed splines were used to generate contour plots of the odds ratios of BMI and weight change for mortality. RESULTS: The study analyzed 48 600 patients. The mean age was 71.9 ± 10 y. There were 33 051 men (68%) and 17 853 deaths (37%). The smoothed splines for BMI showed that low BMI was associated with high hazard ratio (HR, [95% confidence interval]; BMI = 18.5 kg/m2, HR, 1.2; [1.1-1.2]; BMI = 25 kg/m2, HR, 0.9; [0.9-0.9]). The smoothed spline of weight change showed a higher HR with an increasing rate of weight change (weight change rate -10%, HR, 1.1; [1.1-1.2]; weight change rate +10%, HR, 1; [1-1]). In the thin-plate smoothed spline analysis, patients with BMI <17 to 18.5 kg/m2 were at a higher risk for death regardless of weight change. CONCLUSIONS: Low BMI, a large degree of weight change, or a combination of both, predicted death in Asian patients with advanced cancer.

Histological and immunohistochemical features of gingival enlargement in a patient with AML.

Here, we discuss the pathophysiology of leukemia-associated gingival enlargement based on a case of acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AML-M4) with typical gingival enlargement. Uniquely, this patient was well enough to allow full periodontal examination and incisional gingival biopsy to be performed both before and after chemotherapy. The patient was a 39-year-old Japanese woman with AML-M4 showing gingival enlargement. Histological and immunohistochemical features of gingiva and bacterial counts in the periodontal pockets were examined before and after chemotherapy. The results were as follows: (1) infiltration of myelomonocytic blasts in enlarged gingiva; (2) resolution of gingival enlargement with complete remission of AML by anticancer chemotherapy; and (3) the numbers of bacteria in the periodontal pockets were not high and were not altered before or after chemotherapy. In patients with AML-M4, remarkable mucosal enlargement is not generally observed in the body except in the gingiva. We hypothesized that antigens derived from periodontal bacteria, even if they are not present in large numbers, could act as chemoattractants for myelomonocytic leukemic cells.