Malnutrition and Cancer: The Sad State of the Science

The majority of patients with cancer suffer from nutritional deficits, and up to 85% of patients with cancer diagnoses experience some form of weight loss and/or malnutrition during their cancer treatment (DeWys, Begg, Lavin et al. 1980).

For some, the nutritional deficits can progress to cancer cachexia, a form of malnutrition characterized by loss of lean body mass, muscle wasting, and impaired immune, physical, and mental function (Fearon, Strasser, Anker et al. 2011). Poor nutritional status…