Background: Immunonutrition (IN) significantly reduces the incidence of postoperative infectious complications and the length of hospitalization in patients undergoing major elective surgery for gastrointestinal malignances. However, the clinical benefit of IN in patients who have undergone esophagectomy for esophageal cancer is unclear. Moreover, the effect of enteral IN in patients during preoperative adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and in patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy for advanced esophageal cancer is unknown.
Summary: This review analyzes the evidence supporting the enteral administration of IN in patients who have undergone esophagectomy and/or chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Twelve trials that evaluated IN exclusively in patients who underwent esophagectomy were published between January 1980 and August 2017. Two trials concerning IN during chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer were identified in the same period. However, the evidence is insufficient to recommend enteral IN in patients who have undergone esophagectomy and/or chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer.
Key message: Further evidence from well-designed randomized controlled trials is required to verify the clinical benefits of enteral IN in patients undergoing esophagectomy and/or chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer.
Practical implications: Resolvins, which are generated from EPA, are novel anti-inflammatory lipid mediators and may play a key role in the resolution of acute inflammation when IN is supplemented with EPA in patients undergoing severely stressful operations.
Keywords: Chemoradiotherapy; Esophageal cancer; Immunonutrition; Surgery.