Effects of oral nutritional supplements on body weight and life qualityin post-discharge patients with gastricor colorectal cancer: A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial

Objective To investigate the effect of oral nutritional supplements(ONS) on body weight loss and life quality in post-discharge patients with gastric and colorectal cancer. Methods All the enrolled post-operative gastric or colorectal cancer patients were randomly divided into ONS group and control group. Body weight loss, middle arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness and right-hand grip strength were measured and the Karnofsky score, ECOG score and QOL score were calculated 3 months after the discharge. Results The body weight loss of gastric cancer patients was lower in ONS group than in control group since 2 months after discharge.(2 months after discharge: 1.65±2.11vs. 2.70±1.90 kg, t=-2.385 3, P=0.019 3; 3 months after discharge: 1.95±2.75vs. 3.67±2.29 kg, t=-3.134 7, P=0.002 4), There was no difference of body weight loss between two groups in colorectal cancer patients. The middle arm circumference, triceps skinfold thicknessand right-hand grip strength showed no statistic difference between two groups both in gastric and colorectal cancer patients. The Karnofsky score(56.82±13.65%vs. 51.71±9.72%, t=2.014 8, P=0.047 2) and QOL score(41.91±6.92 vs. 38.39±8.77, t=2.059 7, P=0.042 6) were higher in ONS group than in control group in gastric cancer patients. While all 3 types of scores had no difference between two groups in colorectal cancer patients. Conclusion ONS can efficiently reduce the body weight loss and improve the performance status and life qualityin post-discharge gastric cancer patients, but not in colorectal cancer patients. Key words: Oral nutritional supplement; Gastric malignancy; Colorectal malignancy