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Chemotherapy interferes with enjoyment of food

For many cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, eating becomes an unpleasant, even fearful, experience.

Patients taking certain cancer drugs suffer from a range of adverse reactions, including eating difficulties, which result directly from the drugs' toxic effect.

In 2006, the French national cancer institute published a study of eating difficulties associated with cancer drugs. Its findings are worthy of note. The study, involving over 1800 patients, shows that more than a third of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy report a drop in appetite; half notice a change in their sense of thirst, and half have lost weight.

More than 40% of patients can no longer tolerate certain odours and a third suffer from nausea caused by the smell of the treatment room. Many patients find mealtimes unpleasant, some even dread them.

When patients begin treatment, these findings should be taken into account in weighing up cancer drugs' risk-benefit balance. When it is necessary to pursue the treatment, patients should be helped to devise eating strategies. The treatment room should be well ventilated and odours and perfumes should be avoided.

©Prescrire February 2008

Source: "Chimiothérapie anticancéreuse : perte du plaisir de manger" Rev Prescrire 2008 ; 28 (292) : 108-109.

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