This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by DeWys, W. D. Articles by Herbst, S. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by DeWys, W. D. Articles by Herbst, S. H.

Oral Feeding in the Nutritional Management of the Cancer Patient¹

Medical Oncology Section, Department of Medicine and the Cancer Center, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611

Nutritional therapy of the cancer patient by the oral route includes management of factors that may cause anorexia, attempts to modify the patient's eating behavior, and the offering of nutritional supplements to the patient. Anoretic factors for which specific strategies may be employed include taste abnormalities, pain, nausea, and depression. Modification of the patient's eating behavior involves patient education, monitoring, and feedback. Education includes nutritional instruction and instruction in favorable patterns for mealtime eating and stimulation of snack eating. Snack eating includes the use of nutritional supplements, and patient acceptance of commercially available supplements was studied. When synthetic chemically defined nutritional products were compared with a milk-based product, patients preferred the milk-based product. Intercomparisons between milk-based products showed slight differences in preference ranking among these products and also differences between patients and controls in their relative order of ranking. Preference testing may be useful in assisting the health care team in selecting the optimal nutritional supplement to offer each patient.

¹ Supported in part by Contract N01 CP 65779 and Grant CA-15145 from the National Cancer Institute. Presented at the Conference on Nutrition and Cancer Therapy, November 29 to December 1, 1976, Key Biscayne, Fla.

² Presenter.