Weight loss often starts with appetite loss. The underlying cancer and treatment-related side effects that may cause appetite loss are: – Changes in metabolism. Metabolism is the body’s process of breaking down food and turning it into energy. – Nausea and vomiting – Constipation – Mouth sores – Difficulty chewing – Difficulty swallowing – Loss of taste – Depression – Pain
Relieving side effects is an important part of cancer care and treatment. This approach is called palliative care or supportive care. It helps meet the patient’s physical, emotional, and social needs. Research strongly supports that palliative care be part of your cancer care earlier rather than later.
These tips may help patients who have cancer-associated appetite loss and weight loss: – Try to increase the frequency of the food you eat. Rather than trying to eat large meals 3 times daily, try instead to eat frequent small meals throughout the day. – Consider consulting a registered dietitian (RD) or nutritionist. These professionals provide nutrition counseling. They help people maintain a healthy weight and get the important nutrients they need such as protein, vitamins, and minerals. – Prior to chemotherapy, eat light meals and avoid fatty or protein-rich foods. – You may want to keep a record of what, when, and how much you eat, including how you feel during and after eating. For example, do you have nausea? Feel full quickly? Notice changes in taste? Sharing this information with your health care team may help with decisions about changing your diet.
Sometimes, doctors may suggest certain drugs to curb weight loss.
This is a progesterone hormone. It can improve appetite, weight gain, and sense of well-being. However, you need to discuss the risks of taking megestrol acetate with your health care team because of the increased risk of blood clots while taking this medication.
Also called corticosteroids or glucocorticoids, these may increase appetite and improve your sense of well-being. They also may help with nausea, weakness, and pain. Doctors often only suggest steroids for short-term use for periods of less than 2 weeks. Despite the many benefits of steroids, long-term use is associated with many side effects, including, but not limited to, increases in blood sugar, increased risk of infection, and muscle weakness. It is important to note that doctors try to minimize the use of steroids for patients receiving immunotherapy.
This is a medication used to help treat nausea and vomiting. Metoclopramide may also help prevent the feeling of fullness if you take it about 30 minutes before trying to eat a meal. One key side effect of this medication is that it may cause diarrhea.
The pancreas has a key role in helping digest food. For patients who may not have a fully functional pancreas, such as those with pancreatic cancer, supplemental digestive enzymes may help the body absorb fat, proteins, and carbohydrates. Signs that you may need to take supplemental digestive enzymes may include increased gas, bloating, vague abdominal pain, and stools that float in the toilet bowl. Be sure to let your health care team know if you have any of these symptoms.
This is a medication containing 1 of the active ingredients in medical cannabis called THC. THC may increase appetite but is also associated with a higher risk of confusion, especially in adults over the age of 65. Discuss the risks and benefits of taking dronabinol with your health care team, especially if you have never used medical cannabis previously or if you are taking other medications that may increase your risk of confusion (pain medications, anxiety medications).
Sometimes, patients receive nutrients through an intravenous (IV) tube instead of eating and drinking. Usually, the goal is to provide short-term nutritional support to improve health. An IV is inserted into a vein. The nutrients go directly into the body through the IV. Studies have demonstrated that the use of intravenous nutrient therapy should be limited to short periods. This is an artificial way of providing nutrition and therefore is associated with higher risks of infection and fluid building up in the body.
Weight loss and cancer cachexia are different. Cachexia is a syndrome that is caused by the underlying cancer. Although weight loss is part of cachexia, it is not associated with the increased metabolism that occurs with cachexia. Therefore, weight loss as part of cachexia does not always improve with more calories.
Up to 80% of people with advanced cancer have cachexia. Cachexia is also called wasting. Wasting is when a person has both weight loss and muscle loss. Like other weight loss, cachexia can cause fatigue, weakness, loss of energy, and make it hard to do everyday tasks. People with cachexia may also experience more intense symptoms.