Nutrition
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Immunostimulation by anticancer cytotoxic drugs is needed for long-term therapeutic success. Activation of dendritic cells (DCs) is crucial to obtain effective and long-lasting anticancer T-cell mediated immunity. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of capsaicin-mediated cell death of bladder cancer cells on the activation of human monocyte-derived CD1a+ immature DCs. ⋯ Our data show that CPS-mediated cancer cell apoptosis activates DCs via CD91, suggesting CPS as an attractive candidate for cancer therapy.
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Intensive individualized nutritional counseling requires nutrition professionals with specific experience in oncology. If the patient is unable to achieve his or her nutritional requirements via regular foods, nutritional supplements may be prescribed, the composition of which is based on detection of dietary deficits as well as a detailed intake questionnaire. Any nutritional intervention must be based on the need for an adequate intake and also must take into consideration other relevant factors such as digestive and absorptive capacity, the need for alleviation or arrest of symptoms, and any psychological issues.
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Parenteral nutrition may be considered when oral intake and/or enteral nutrition are not sufficient to maintain nutritional status and the patient is likely to die sooner from starvation than from the cancer. A detailed assessment should be made prior to the decision about whether parenteral nutrition should be started. A follow up plan should be documented with objective and patient centred treatment goals as well as specific time points for evaluation.
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Elderly cancer patients account for a growing part of home artificial nutrition patients. Long-term enteral or parenteral nutrition in the older patient with cancer is prescribed for sequels after treatment (dysphagia, intestinal failure) or for bowel obstruction. Home artificial nutrition should benefit from a specialized follow-up. For patients out of therapy, the goal of nutritional care is to optimize quality of life and comfort.
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Although the nutritional approach, especially when delivered through a gastric or jejunal tube or in a central vein, is handled by the nutritional support team or a specialist in nutrition, it is the responsibility of the oncologist, who knows the natural history of the disease and the impact of the oncologic therapy, to identify the potential candidates for the nutritional support, to recommend the nutritional strategy and to integrate it within the oncologic program. If gastrointestinal function is preserved, the initial nutritional approach should be through oral supplementation, followed by tube feeding if previous attempts are unsuccessful or upper gastrointestinal tract is not accessible. Parenteral nutrition is the obligatory resort when patients are (sub)obstructed but it may also be a practical way to integrate an insufficient oral nutrient intake (so called "supplemental" parenteral nutrition). Depending on the patient's condition and the disease's stage, artificial nutrition may have a "permissive" role in patients receiving aggressive oncologic therapy or represent just a supportive treatment in patients likely to succumb from starvation sooner than from tumor progression.