Nutrition Support in Hematologic Cancers Systematic Review
Welcome to the Nutrition Support in Hematologic Cancers Systematic Review
Treatment for hematologic malignancies, including hematopoietic cell transplant, is associated with substantial side effects including mucositis, esophagitis, malabsorption, and graft-vs-host disease. As a result, malnutrition is common in these patients and is associated with poorer clinical outcomes. Consequently, nutrition support is a critical component of care for individuals with hematologic malignancies.
The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the effects of various nutrition support interventions in individuals with hematologic malignancies on outcomes including:
- Nutritional status
- Anthropometric measures
- Length of hospital stay
- Hospital readmissions
- Quality of life
Although secondary outcomes of survival, cost, adverse events, inflammation, and adequacy of calorie and protein intake were explored in the full systematic review, they are not summarized here, as these outcomes were not assessed using GRADE and the evidence was highly heterogeneous.
Key findings:
Very low certainty of evidence suggests shorter hospital length of stay with enteral nutrition compared with parenteral nutrition, while glutamine-enriched nutrition showed no effect on length of stay. Individualized nutrition support was associated with less weight loss. No single nutrition support strategy was clearly superior; however, findings support current best practices, including prioritizing enteral nutrition and tailoring interventions to individual needs. Overall, associations between nutrition support and most clinical outcomes remains uncertain.
Use the links on the left to view the results of the umbrella review. Expand the section below titled Project Team and Disclosures for a listing of the individuals who contributed to the development of this project, conflict of interest disclosures, and project funding information.