Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to test whether a very early nutrition intervention delivered over the telephone was feasible and could improve outcomes amongst patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.
Methods
Participants with a histologically proven new diagnosis of primary oesophageal or stomach cancer and who were to undergo surgery and/or chemotherapy were randomised to receive either standard nutrition care (SC) or early and intensive nutrition intervention (NI) over the telephone/face-to-face. Participants were followed for 6 months. The primary outcome was quality of life (QoL), assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Global Quality of Life questionnaire C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the European Quality of Life Instrument (EQ-5D) tool; secondary outcomes were nutritional status and survival.
Results
Twenty-one participants were recruited (11 SC and 10 NI). At baseline, the prevalence of malnutrition was 90 %. Compared with SC, the NI group had a significantly higher EORTC global QoL score at the first mid-study follow-up (coefficient (95 % CI) 21.0 (12.1, 29.9) adjusted for baseline, p < 0.001) and at 26 weeks (28.4 (21.3, 35.4) adjusted for baseline, p < 0.001). Nutritional risk score was lower (p < 0.001), and loss of body weight attenuated (p < 0.001) in the NI group compared with SC. Six deaths occurred during the study, five in the SC group and one in the NI group (p = 0.06). The mean time spent with a dietitian per contact was significantly less for the NI group compared with SC (16(3) vs 40(6) min per dietetic contact, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
This pilot study has shown the potential of a novel telephone-based early and intensive dietetic model of care for newly diagnosed upper gastrointestinal cancer patients.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank (1) Liang Low, Paul Cashin, John Gribbin and the Upper Gastrointestinal consultants of Monash Health for their contribution to recruiting patients to this study; (2) Carmen Puskas for data entry; (3) Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service for funding.
Conflict of interest
None of the authors have a conflict of interest to declare. This work was funded by Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (SMICS).
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Silvers, M.A., Savva, J., Huggins, C.E. et al. Potential benefits of early nutritional intervention in adults with upper gastrointestinal cancer: a pilot randomised trial. Support Care Cancer 22, 3035–3044 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2311-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2311-3