Guideline / position statementindependent cross-checkabstract only checked★ key study I-INTA-09 in-depth review

What should cancer patients eat?

ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients.

Overview

Arends J et al.. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) 2017 · PMID 27637832 · DOI 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.07.015

European guidelines say cancer patients should be screened for malnutrition and should get enough energy and protein.

Does the study support the specific claim? No · Methodological quality: high

Study explained simply

What did the researchers want to find out?: Nutrition in cancer
How was the study done?: Clinical guideline (GRADE)
How many people, animals or samples were studied?: Adult cancer patients
What was actually found?: Malnutrition worsens outcomes; energy needs should be met
How large was the observed effect?: Not applicable
What do the results mean in everyday life?: Deliberately eating less is risky for many cancer patients
What are the study's limitations?: Abstract only
What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?: Contradicts fasting as a general cancer treatment
Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?: High
What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?: Effects of short supervised fasting

Authors: Arends J et al.
Journal: Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Year: 2017
Identifier: PMID 27637832 DOI 10.1016/j.clnu.2016.07.015
Verification: verified – PubMed efetch 2026-10-25
Retracted: no
Corrections: none
Extent checked: abstract only
Conflicts of interest and funding: Commissioned and financially supported by ESPEN and the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer (EPAAC)

Nutritional management of adult cancer patients

Study design: Guideline / position statement – Evidence-based clinical practice guideline (GRADE)
Population: Adult cancer patients
Country: Europe (ESPEN/EPAAC)
Period: Published 2017
Sample size: Not applicable
Inclusion and exclusion criteria: Meta-analyses, systematic reviews and comparative studies by PICO questions

Results: Malnutrition and loss of muscle mass are frequent in cancer patients and have a negative effect on clinical outcome. All cancer patients should be screened regularly for malnutrition. In all patients, except at end of life, energy and substrate requirements should be met through step-wise nutritional interventions.
Absolute risks: Not applicable
Authors' conclusion: Nutritional care should be integrated into cancer care and accompanied by exercise training.

Recommendation-level evidence.

Meeting energy needs is the standard; prolonged alternate-day fasting and reducing solid food risk malnutrition in cancer patients.

Short supervised fasting around chemotherapy is being studied (I-INTA-08).

High.

Authoritative standard of care for nutrition in cancer.

Multidimensional assessment
Multidimensional assessment
Authenticity of the source	verified
Methodological quality	high
Risk of bias	low
Precision of results	not applicable
Directness	direct
Reproducibility	replicated
Consistency with the overall evidence	consistent
Regional transferability	high
Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive)	not applicable

Role of short-term fasting as adjunct.