Background and aims: Patients with pancreatic cancer often experience significant deterioration in nutritional status over time. Malnutrition is complex and multifactorial, with malabsorption, pain, toxic dependencies, co-morbidities and malignant processes all playing a role. The aims of this systematic review were to assess nutritional changes over time and identify tolerance of nutritional intervention, thus identifying potential areas for further research to improve patient outcomes.
Materials and methods: A systematic review of MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed was carried out in February 2020, identifying 2620 articles. After screening to exclude those reporting short-term measures, with only one data point, or in the wrong population, thirteen papers were selected for analysis (four trials in neo-adjuvant treatment, five in populations undergoing palliative treatment for pancreatic cancer, and four in mixed populations undergoing pancreatic resection).
Results: Overall, studies were limited by predominantly retrospective designs, and poor control of potentially confounding variables. Meta-analysis could not be performed due to heterogenicity in study design and reporting methods. Surgery in mixed cohorts did not appear to result in weight loss. Only one small intervention study was identified. Patients with pancreatic cancer experienced a decline in nutritional status, with 44-63% of patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy having low muscle mass prior to starting treatment.
Conclusion: There is a paucity of data regarding nutritional intervention in pancreatic cancer. Future work should include the use of validated functional and clinical assessment tools to further explore the impact of nutritional intervention, and the relationship between nutritional status and outcome.
Keywords: Malnutrition; Pancreatic cancer; Sarcopenia.
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