Value of nutritional support in adult cancer patients.

Both the presence of cancer and oncologic therapy cause metabolic alterations that may decrease the ability of the host to maintain anabolism. Nutritional support, properly administered, will replenish lean body mass, visceral proteins, and immunocompetence in human beings and experimental animals with small to modest tumor burdens. To date, stimulation of tumor growth by intravenous hyperalimentation in malnourished patients has not been documented scientifically. The exact role of intravenous hyperalimentation, in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, is controversial, whereas the role of nutritional support for the malnourished surgical patient is more firmly established.