[Antineoplastic treatment impact on nutritional status in patients with breast cancer]

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women in Mexico and also has the highest mortality. Although treatment has improved significantly, it can affect the nutritional status of the recipients.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the initial phase of antineoplastic therapy on the nutritional status in patients with breast cancer.

Forty subjects with primary diagnosed of invasive breast cancer were studied in a before and after intervention (six month apart) using a quasi-experimental design. Basal and six month after intervention measurements included were anthropometry, body composition by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), diet by 24-hour recall and food frequency questionnaire, as well as serum -carotene and retinol. The therapy effect was analyzed using repeated measurements mixed linear regression.

Lean tissue decreased after the studied period (p=0.032). Addicionally, there was an interaction between weight, BMI and body fat parameters with menopausal status, increasing in these variables due to therapy only premenopausal patients (p=0.005, 0.006 and 0.001, respectively). Decreased serum retinol (p=0.049) despite the improvement in -carotene status (p=0.03). In general there was an increase the consumption of vegetables food products whilst a decrease in animal foods.

The breast cancer antineoplastic treatment had a negative effect on weight and body fat, especially in young women. Although there were some positive dietary changes, vegetables consumption remained insufficient, which was also reflected in serum biomarkers.