Rome, May 12 (beraking latest news Health) – There is a direct link between cancer and inflammation and the synergy of 3 nutrients at the base of immunonutrition, namely arginine, omega-3 fatty acids and nucleotides. A news that – in view of the World Cancer Patient Day which will occur on May 17 – represents a big step in nutritional therapy for over 2 million and 250 thousand cancer patients and for professionals in the sector. Confirming there is a prospective pilot study led by Franco Roviello of the University of Siena, recently published in ‘Clinical Nutrition Espen’, whose results highlight the main benefits of immunonutrition in modulating the tumor microenvironment and activating the immune system. , both in the postoperative recovery of patients and during cancer treatment.
“In the scientific literature there were already studies that highlighted the benefits of immunonutrition for the cancer patient, but not as regards the mechanism of action and the variation of the tumor microenvironment. This is why the desire to conduct a study that would investigate these aspects, particularly in people with tumors in the gastro-intestinal tract, that for the surgical treatments they undergo are also those that need greater support ‘, explains Roviello, director of Uoc Oncological Surgery Aou Senese and author of the study.
The research – a note details – was conducted on 24 patients (16 cases and 8 controls) with stomach (50%) and colorectal (50%) stage II and III tumors with an average age of 78.5 years (44-90 years) . The results demonstrate the synergistic efficacy of the 3 immunonutrients (arginine, omega 3 and nucleotides) both in the peri-operative phase and during antineoplastic treatments such as chemo and radiotherapy. Indeed, immunohistochemical analysis showed that immunonutrition promotes the antineoplastic immune response with the increase of T-cytotoxic and T-helper lymphocytes and the reduction of Texhausted and T-reg lymphocytes by suppressing the tumor’s ability to evade the immune system. .
In particular, the study highlighted significant differences between the group of patients treated with immunonutrition and the control group not treated preoperatively. For 7 days before surgery, the 16 patients examined were treated with 2 brick / day of Impact Oral, a unique immunonutritional formula together with Impact Enteral with a synergistic content of arginine, ω-3 fatty acids and nucleotides of ribonucleic acid. , in line with the compositional profile, created by Nestlé Health Science, a company specializing in innovative nutritional solutions, and recommended by international and national guidelines for oncological surgery, with a level of recommendation A.
Scientific research on immunonutrition – the note recalls – boasts a history of more than 30 years: the first studies on the effects of individual immunonutrients date back to the 1980s, with a greater concentration in the first decade of the 2000s, for a total of over 20 publications on the subject and over 2,500 patients involved. All the evidences collected from the meta-analyzes carried out to date show that peri-operative immunonutrition, administered to malnourished and / or normally fed patients undergoing abdominal surgery and Orl, has allowed a significant reduction in postoperative complications, including reduction of abdominal abscesses in 57% of cases, reduction of wound infections in 39% of patients and a reduction of anastomotic dehiscences in 48%.
Furthermore, the benefits of immunonutrition are not only at the clinical level: thanks to the application of nutritional treatment, a decrease in hospital stay of about 2.5-2.9 days and a 40% cost saving has been observed. hospital for the management of complications, estimated at approximately 1,250 euros per hospitalization.
“The early management of the patient, if associated with a nutritional intervention with oral supplementation based on immunonutrients, is useful in the medium-long term for the achievement of better clinical results. Furthermore, with the association of an immunomodulating formula based on arginine, omega 3 and nucleotides, the hospitalization period of a cancer patient is shorter, and therefore leads to a reduction in healthcare costs, with a positive impact on the NHS. Therefore, the cost-benefit ratio is absolutely advantageous “said Riccardo Caccialanza. , director of Uoc Dietetics and Nutrition Irccs San Matteo Foundation of Pavia.
In the future, further in-depth studies are hoped for to identify the subgroup of tumors that respond best to immunonutrition and to correlate these data with the response to chemotherapy and the main cancer treatments available today. The goal will be the inclusion of immunonutrition in the guidelines as an enhancer of antineoplastic therapies and a parameter to better understand the biological behavior of the tumor.