Role of Mediterranean diet in preventing platinum based gastrointestinal toxicity in gynecolocological malignancies. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Role of Mediterranean diet in preventing platinum based gastrointestinal toxicity in gynecolocological malignancies: A single Institution experience.
World J Clin Oncol. 2019 Dec 24 ;10(12):391-401. PMID: 31890648
Eleonora Ghisoni
BACKGROUND: Gynecological malignancies represent a major cause of death in women and are often treated with platinum-based regimens. Patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from alterations in nutritional status which may worsen gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities, quality of life and affect the overall prognosis. Indeed, assuring a good nutritional status and limiting toxicities during treatment are still major goals for clinicians.
AIM: To assess the role of Mediterranean Diet (MD) in reducing GI toxicities in patients with gynecological cancers treated with platinum-based regimens.
METHODS: We conducted an observational study on 22 patients with gynecological tumors treated with a platinum-based chemotherapy at Candiolo Cancer Institute FPO/IRCCS between January 2018 and June 2018. The food and frequency (FFQ) and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Common Terminology Criteria For Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) questionnaires were administered at baseline and at every Day 1 of each cycle. To evaluate the differences in GI toxicities the study population was divided in two groups according to the currently validated Mediterranean Diet Serving Score (MDSS) at baseline.
RESULTS: Patients with high MDSS reported a trend toward lower GI toxicities according to PRO-CTCAE at each timepoint (first evaluation:= 0.7; second:= 0.52; third:= 0.01). In particular, difference in nausea frequency and gravity (<0.001), stomach pain frequency and gravity (= 0.01 and= 0.02), abdomen bloating frequency and gravity (= 0.02 and= 0.03), and interference with daily activities (= 0.02) were highly statistically significant at the end of treatment. More than 60% of patients changed their food habits during chemotherapy mainly because of GI toxicities. A higher reduction of food intake, both in terms of caloric (= 0.29) and of single nutrients emerged in the group experiencing higher toxicity.
CONCLUSION: Our results show that adherence to MD possibly reduces GI toxicity and prevents nutritional status impairment during chemotherapy treatment. Bigger studies are needed to confirm our results.
