Nutrition
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Weight loss and nutritional deterioration are associated with adverse outcomes in terms of cancer prognosis (response rate and survival) as well as increased complications, prolonged hospitalizations, increased risk of unplanned hospitalization, increased disability, and increased overall cost of care. The nutritional oncology service at Fox Chase Cancer Center defined a proactive, standardized assessment and interventional approach from 1987-1994. ⋯ The assessment of success for a nutritional intervention (e.g., a disease-specific nutritional supplement) requires the standardization of definitions, assessment tools, criteria for nutritional intervention, and appropriate end points for the assessment of outcomes. The Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment of nutritional status is used in conjunction with the nutritional risk of planned cancer therapy to define a standardized interventional approach in oncology patients, which can be used in clinical practice, cooperative oncology group protocols, and clinical trials of nutritional intervention regimens.
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Cytokines are produced in disease or during immunologic challenge. Some cytokines increase host resistance to disease whereas others trigger inflammatory processes. Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are pro-inflammatory cytokines that affect nearly every cell either alone or in a synergistic fashion. ⋯ It is unclear whether these endogenous levels are sufficient to block IL-1 and TNF from triggering their respective cell-bound receptors in disease. IL-1 infusions into patients induce circulating levels of IL-1ra but not IL-1. TNF infusions into patients also induce high levels of soluble TNF receptors.
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The regional distribution of body fat has been identified as a significant risk factor for the development of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Several studies that have investigated the potential associations between topographic features of adipose tissue and indices reflecting carbohydrate and lipid metabolism have reported significant associations between abdominal fat deposition and metabolic complications. The development of computed tomography as a means to precisely measure the amount of subcutaneous and deep adipose tissue at any site of the body has shown that determination of the level of visceral adipose tissue is a critical measurement to perform in the assessment of the health hazards of obesity. ⋯ We have also reported that a high level of visceral adipose tissue is associated with a deterioration of glucose tolerance and that the relationship between visceral fat deposition and glucose tolerance remains significant after controlling for the level of total-body fat. Because significant interrelationships were observed between abdominal visceral obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipoproteinemias in obese women, it is suggested that visceral obesity is an important component of the insulin-resistance syndrome (syndrome X) that has been previously described. This cluster of morphological, hormonal, and metabolic alterations observed in abdominal obesity may have substantial implications for the treatment of this condition.