Nutrition and cancer. Recent developments.

Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome that results in involuntary weight loss, even in the face of adequate nutritional intake. The profound metabolic abnormalities associated with cancer cachexia affect a large percentage of animals with cancer even before any clinical signs are seen. This paraneoplastic syndrome results in alterations in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism that, if left untreated, decrease the animal's quality of life and lead to a poor response to cancer therapy. An understanding of the metabolic abnormalities associated with cancer cachexia is of paramount importance to the practicing veterinarian to determine an accurate prognosis and to choose the optimal type of intravenous fluids and nutritional therapy for each patient. Although research identifying the optimal diet for cancer-bearing dogs and cats is still underway, some general principles apply. The first is that the patient should receive nutritional elements orally whenever possible. When oral feeding is not possible, nasogastric, gastrostomy, and jejunostomy tube feeding are viable options. When feeding by the gastrointestinal tract is not possible, parenteral feeding is a practical alternative.