ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUALIZED NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON BODY COMPOSITION DURING THE TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

In breast cancer patients, the loss of muscle mass and malnutrition are frequent and represent a negative prognostic factor. They can be prevented with the combination of proper nutrition and activity during the treatment of breast cancer patients. In a retrospective study, 287 patients were included in the intervention group and 194 in the control group. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the importance of individualized nutrition and planned physical activities in the intervention group. Malnourished patients were defined by the GLIM criteria in both the control and intervention group and received routine individualized nutritional counseling. For the other patients in the intervention group (GLIM-negative), preventive nutritional counselling was provided in the form of online lectures. All patients in the intervention group received a comprehensive approach, which included supervised group exercise. We didn't find any difference in body composition measurements using bioelectrical impedance analysis between both groups during treatment and after one year – there was no significant difference between the control and intervention group in fat-free mass index (adjusted p-value (Bonferonni-Holm method) was 0,2). The only effect we found was in malnourished patients who had individualized nutritional intervention in both groups. Our results show that, in general, despite targeted nutritional and exercise advice to breast cancer patients, they are not leading to improvement of body composition measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis parameters in the intervention group.