Nutritional Status of Patients With Ovarian Cancer: Carotenoids and Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Posted: Thursday, November 12, 2020
Blood serum levels of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids in patients with ovarian cancer seem to be a good indicator of nutritional status, with implications for mortality and morbidity, according to a study by Slawomir J. Terlikowski, MD, PhD, of the Medical University of Bialystok, Poland, and colleagues, published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.
"Disease-related malnutrition is an important risk factor,” wrote the authors, as “body weight loss reduces the effectiveness of chemotherapy."
In this retrospective analysis, the preoperative serum samples of 52 women with early-stage ovarian cancer, 84 women with advanced-stage ovarian cancer, and those of 104 healthy age-matched women were analyzed and compared. Ingestion of dietary supplements rich in fat-soluble vitamins or carotenoids was an exclusion criterion for enrollment in the study. The serum concentrations of carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamins were quantified by high-performance lipid chromatography.
The levels of all-trans-retinoic acid, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, all-trans-retinol, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lycopene, and a-carotene were significantly lower in patients with early- or advanced-stage ovarian cancer compared with healthy controls. Significantly lower levels of b-cryptoxanthin, b-tocopherol, a-carotene, coenzyme Q10, and higher C-reactive protein serum levels were detected in patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer.
Undernutrition was detected in 55% of patients enrolled in this study; severely malnourished patients had significantly lower levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol and all-trans-retinol as well as significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein than well-nourished patients.
Nutritional status assessment scores "can be considered not only as a malnutrition assessment tool, but also an effective early detection aid, prevention tool and should be used for planning in early nutritional intervention in patients with ovarian cancer," the authors concluded.
Disclosures: The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
