Background and aim Nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) are common in cancer patients and the negative impacts on nutritional status indicate the need for research, diagnosis and nutritional intervention in order to reduce the risk of malnutrition. We aimed to verify the presence of malnutrition, the need for nutritional intervention, NIS and their influence on the nutritional status of surgical patients with cancer. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in a public tertiary hospital, from March 2017 to October 2019. Nutritional status, the need for nutritional intervention and NIS were assessed through the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) in the first 48 hours of hospital admission. Results Among the 135 patients evaluated, 55.6% were elderly and 51.1% were male; patients had a median age of 62 years and a predominance of cancer located in the lower gastrointestinal tract (35.6%). Malnutrition and the need for nutritional intervention were identified in 60.0% and 90.4% of cases, respectively. The presence of three or more NIS was reported by 51.9% of patients. Significant differences in NIS were observed according to sex, PG-SGA classification and PG-SGA score. After logistic regression analysis, it was determined that the symptoms that increased the chances of malnutrition were anorexia, constipation, strange taste, mouth sores and others (depression, dental or financial problems). Conclusion Malnutrition, the need for nutritional intervention and the presence of three or more NIS were elevated in the patients evaluated. Malnutrition was associated with the presence of NIS, indicating the need for attention and care in antineoplastic treatment.

Background Dynapenia is defined as an age-related loss of muscle strength. There is little information on dynapenia in cancer patients and on how it relates to anthropometric variables. The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of dynapenia and its association with anthropometric variables in hospitalized cancer patients. Methods Participants comprised adult and elderly cancer patients evaluated within the first 48 h of hospital admission to a tertiary public hospital, a referral center for gastrointestinal tract surgery. Anthropometric variables were measured according to standardized protocols. Dynapenia was identified based on handgrip strength (HGS), according to the cutoff points defined by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2), with values for women < 16 kg and for men < 27 kg. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 22.0, with a significance level of 5%. Results This study included 158 patients aged in average 59.5 ± 14.0 years; of these, 53.6% were elderly, 58.9% non-white and 59.5% had some degree of malnutrition. The most prevalent type of cancer was that of the lower gastrointestinal tract (33.5%). The presence of dynapenia was observed in 23.4% of the patients and cachexia in 36.1%. There was an association between dynapenia with age (p < 0.001), life stage (p = 0.002) and race/color (p = 0.027), and also with body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.001) and adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT) of both hands (p < 0.05). After logistic regression analysis, adjusted for the sociodemographic variables, the APMT of the dominant hand and the low weight determined by body mass index remained associated with the occurrence of dynapenia (p < 0.05). Conclusions In this study we confirmed that dynapenia was present in cancer patients, being associated with APMT of the dominant hand and low weight. HSG was proven to be a reliable and complementary measure to be added to the process of assessing nutritional status, contributing to the nutritional diagnosis of these patients and to the detection of early muscle depletion.