The 4^th of February is World Cancer Day. It is the day to be reminded of the devastating numbers associated with the disease. Globally 18 mio new cancer cases occur every year and 9.5 mio deaths, while cancer accounts for 30% of total premature deaths. In Europe respectively there are 2.7 mio new cancer cases while 1.3 mio people die and in Greece 65k new cases and 33k deaths occur annually.

Although there have been significant strides in cancer disease management there is still a long way to go in terms of ensuring equal access to high quality care along the cancer patient journey. An integral part of the cancer care pathway should be the access to nutrition care. This will considerably contribute to improvement of health outcomes.

30% of cancer patients are malnourished and this can reach up to 50% of patients in certain types of cancers like head & neck. Malnutrition negatively impacts response to medical therapy, increases susceptibility to complications and infections and raises mortality rates. It is striking that 10-20% of patients die due to malnutrition rather than due to the cancer.

The gap in nutrition care is profoundly evident in a survey conducted by the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) with cancer patients across several countries

• 69.6% of total patients and 62.7% of Greek patients reported weight loss
• 76.7% of patients were not referred to a nutrition specialist
• 62.7% of total and 54.2% of Greek patients did not receive any advice to improve appetite and allow for adequate nutrition

Timely nutritional interventions can lead to significant positive health outcomes like increased weight and muscle mass gain, improved response to anti-cancer therapy, enhanced quality of life and higher survival rate. Importantly, interventions also lead to cost savings for healthcare systems.

• Cross functional stakeholders (Medical Societies, Patient Associations, Industry) to collaborate and raise awareness for the need to act
• Advocate for necessary actions with policy makers and governmental bodies:
  • Implement nutrition status screening programs upon cancer diagnosis
  • Establish and implement nutrition protocols
  • Involve multidisciplinary teams ensuring the participation of nutritionists – allocate necessary funding to secure sufficient resourcing
  • Build nutrition awareness amongst patients & caregivers and set up education programs for healthcare professionals

References

• WHO Report on Cancer. 2020 World Health Organisation
• The Global Cancer Observatory. March 2021
• M. Muscaritoli et al. Nutritional and metabolic derangements in Mediterranean patients with cancer and cancer survivors: the ECPC survey. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 2019 DOI: 10.1002/jcsm.12420r journey: what will it take?
• Delivering optimal nutritional care for all throughout the cancer journey: what will it take? The European Nutrition for Health Alliance https://european-nutrition.org/landing-page/joint-policy-session/

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