MALNUTRITION AND SARCOPENIA IN THE ELDERLY CANCER PATIENTS
F. Romano, R. Guggino
Vol.3 (2018), issue 3, pag. 17-20
| Received | 20/09/2018 |
| Accepted after revision | 27/09/2018 |
| Published | 27/09/2018 |
| Review by | Single-blind |
ABSTRACT
In elderly cancer patient, the age-related condition of sarcopenia is exacerbated by metabolic-related metabolic changes and toxicity associated with cancer treatments. Malnutrition and weight loss associated with sarcopenia cause a strong metabolic impairment associated with an increase in mortality. Nutritional status is of paramount importance during active care and is an independent predictor of survival. The impact of sarcopenia on older people is far-reaching. The prevalence between 60 and 70 years is reported as 5-13%, while the prevalence varies from 11 to 50% in people over 80 years. Sarcopenia affects more than 50 million people today and will affect more than 200 million over the next 40 years.
Current recommendations underline the importance of nutritional assessment as an integral part of both geriatric oncology counseling and routine cancer care.
Therefore, the efforts of nutritional research in geriatric oncology should turn to the improvement and uniformity of the nutritional assessment tools, to implement specifc nutritional and geriatric interventions aimed at improving symptoms and outcomes, improving therapeutic protocols that can become integral parts of the standard treatment.