Update nutritional management in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: A literature reviews

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies. Only 20 % of patients are operable at the time of diagnosis. However, the survival rate varies among patients depending on immune response and nutritional status. Weight loss (WL) is frequent and multifactorial, so anorexia-cachexia syndrome and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) should be considered. The nutritional care process must be carried out in all cases from the moment of suspected diagnosis and during the disease. The management of patients with PDAC must be personalized, individualizing behaviors, and from a multidisciplinary perspective at each stage of the disease. The objective of the present review is to offer a tool that facilitates the identification of individuals at nutritional risk and to describe the most appropriate nutritional strategies to improve the quality of care for patients with PDAC.