Sanchez-Lara, K., Turcott, J.G., Juarez-Hernandez, E., Nunez-Valencia, C., Villanueva, G., Guevara, P., . . . Arrieta, O. (2014). Effects of an oral nutritional supplement containing eicosapentaenoic acid on nutritional and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: Randomised trial. Clinical Nutrition, 33, 1017–1023.
To determine if a nutritional supplement taken by patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving paclitaxel with cisplantin/carboplatin chemotherapy can improve body composition, fatigue, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and overall survival.
The patients were randomized to isocaloric diet or isocaloric diet plus eicosapentaenoic-acid (EPA) supplement ProSure®. Evaluations were conducted at baseline, after the first chemotherapy cycle, and after the second chemotherapy cycle.
PHASE OF CARE: Active antitumor treatment
The ONS-EPA group exhibited significant differences in weight (p = 0.01) and lean body mass (p = 0.01). Significant improvement was also seen in calorie and protein intake (p < 0.001) when the nutritional supplement was included. The ONS-EPA group also exhibited significant improvement in inflammatory markers between time points (p = 0.02 to p = 0.05). In HRQOL, there was significant improvement in global health status between time points for the ONS-EPA group (p = 0.021). Differences were seen between groups in fatigue (p = 0.04), appetite loss (p = 0.05), and neuropathy (p = 0.05)
In this study, ONS-EPA supplementation appears to be effective in improving nutritional status and decreasing side effects (appetite loss) in patients receiving chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer.
More studies need to be done with EPA supplementation in this and other cancers.