Oral Cancer Treatments – Nutrition Therapy

Nutrition Therapy for Oral Cancer

At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), every oral cancer patient is offered a personalized, nutrition therapy plan to help ensure that they receive optimal nutrition during their fight against oral cancer. We believe nutrition helps cancer patients maintain their strength during treatment.

The importance of receiving proper nutrition while undergoing treatment for oral cancer simply cannot be understated. Especially, considering that approximately one-third of overall cancer deaths can be linked to malnutrition (Source: National Cancer Institute).

Unfortunately, oral cancer and its related treatment can deplete your body's nutrients, cause weight loss and have a negative effect on your appetite. It can also influence your body's ability to digest foods. Any or all of these factors combined may leave your body and immune system in a weakened and susceptible condition.

That's why each patient who comes to our cancer hospitals for oral cancer treatment receives a nutrition assessment and an individualized plan designed to prevent malnutrition, reduce the side effects of traditional treatments (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation therapy) and enhance his or her overall well-being.

Our program’s mission

Our mission is to provide quality, customized nutritional care to help strengthen you as much as possible. We achieve this by first assessing your risk for malnutrition, and then, by implementing an individualized nutrition plan to be followed throughout your treatment for oral cancer.

Assessment

The first step in the development of your nutrition plan is assessment. The assessment may include:

• Laboratory analysis of your blood: This helps us to determine the status of your immune system (immunocompetence) and protein stores.
• Your medical history and nutrition interview: This offers our nutritionists insight into your appetite, food preferences, the status of your digestive system and any existing or potential complications to be aware of during your oral cancer treatment.
• Computerized diet profile: A three-day nutrient intake analysis completed by you.
• Nutrition anthropometrics: These are body measurements made to determine your loss of lean tissue and percentage of body fat.

Following your admission to a CTCA hospital for oral cancer treatment, additional tests may be performed. These may include:

• Indirect calorimetry: This is a simple breathing test to measure your calorie requirements.
• Nitrogen balance: This is a measurement of protein loss to determine if protein is being utilized properly by your body.

Diet

At CTCA, you are encouraged to eat foods that provide optimal nutrition. A registered dietitian will consult with you to develop an individualized meal plan for optimal health throughout your oral cancer treatment. Dietary recommendations include fruits and vegetables, whole grains and cereals, fish, poultry, legumes, low-fat yogurt and other healthy foods. Interested in a sampling of nutritious recipes we use in our hospitals?

Supplementation

Vitamin and mineral supplements help provide nutrients that your diet may not, and offer a boost where oral cancer or related treatments may have depleted your body. The CTCA supplementation plan includes nutrients that may support your immune system and may reduce toxic side effects of conventional oral cancer treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy. Daily dosages of various nutrients may also be advised, such as:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Beta carotene
• Selenium
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
• Others, as appropriate for your oral cancer treatment

Nutritional support

If you are unable to eat or digest food at any time during your oral cancer treatment, our nutrition/metabolic support team will work with you to ensure you are getting the nutritional support you need. Nutrition may be provided parenterally (through a vein) or enterally (through a feeding tube). Our nutrition/metabolic support team is comprised of a physician, nutrition specialist, nurse, and pharmacist.

Education

Registered dietitians are available for consultation during your oral cancer treatment at CTCA. You'll have the option to attend helpful programs and classes about nutrition and cancer, including regular cooking demonstrations. Our cancer hospitals also offer relevant books, articles and other publications on the subject of cancer and nutrition.

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