Lung cancer, treatment and nutritional status

Lung cancer is often diagnosed at inoperable advanced stages, and most patients exhibit cancer cachexia. The nutritional status of patients has been previously observed to serve a key role in cancer survival and cancer surgery. The aim of the current study was to collect information regarding the treatment of patients and associate them with different nutritional measurements. A total of 82 patients with non-small cell lung cancer were included in the present study. Several parameters were assessed, such as body mass index (BMI), Mediterranian diet score, number of years spent smoking, basic metabolsim (RMR; kcal/day), VO₂ (ml/min), ventilation (lt/min) and physical activity. All the aforementioned parameters were associated with patient treatment, nutritional status and survival. Two-way ANOVA was conducted and pairwise group mean differences were tested using Fisher's LSD and Tukey tests. Normality and variance homogeneity was checked in all cases. The results revealed that RMR and oxygen consumption were negatively affected by the survival status of patients (P=0.012 and P=0.043, respectively). The mean fat difference was higher in patients treated with immunotherapy, and lower in those treated with chemotherapy in addition to immunotherapy, as demonstrated by Tukey comparisons. The survival of 25 patients were affected by the treatment they received (P=0.006). Chemotherapy administered in addition to immunotherapy prolonged patient life almost two-fold when compared with the individual effects of the two treatments, which became equal according to Fisher's LSD comparisons. In conclusion, the nutritional status of patients was associated with the administration of chemotherapy in addition to immunotherapy, and patient survival. Increased metabolism and fat mass were also associated with prolonged survival.