Role of phase angle in the evaluation of effect of an immuno-enhanced formula in post-surgical cancer patients: a randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: Neoplastic disease is frequently associated with poor nutritional status or severe malnutrition. Diet and nutritional intervention are becoming increasingly important for prognosis and quality of life in cancer patients. Accessible and repeatable tools for assessing nutritional status with body composition techniques seems to be fundamental. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of immunonutrition on body composition parameters, inflammatory response and nutritional status in patients at stage III of head and neck squamous carcinoma (HNSCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: In our work, 50 malnourished subjects with HNSCC staging III were recruited and treated with oral diet (OD) or enteral nutrition (EN). Patient under EN followed, for the first three days, enteral standard nutrition (ESN) and then enteral immunonutrition (EIN). Nutrition state was evaluated on days 0, 3, and 8 through body composition and biochemical analyses.

RESULTS: After 8 days, the EIN treatment showed a significant improvement in phase angle, pre-albumin, retinol binding protein and transferrin compared to the OD treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that immunonutrition treatment improves the nutritional status of neoplastic patients, supporting chemotherapy. The phase angle is not only a predictor of cancer survival, but has also proved to be useful in the surveillance of nutritional status improvement as well as biochemical indices.