Preoperative immunomodulating nutrition in patients with gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer is a catabolic disease, where the tumor acts consuming the nutritional reserves of the patient, leading to nutritional loss and poor clinical prognosis.The purpose of this study was to evaluate thepre-surgical nutritional intervention through oral nutritional therapy in patients with gastric cancer admitted to a public hospital in the city of Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Subjective global assessment was applied tospecific cancer patients. Supplementation immunomodulatory lasted on average 11 days during the surgery and predecessor dosage used was 2 days units.Sample of 15 elderly patients, and 40% in baseline nutritional status depleted. After the intervention, only 20% lost weight. There was improvement in the average serum albumin (2.6 g / dl at baseline and 2.9 g /dl after supplementation) and more than half the sample (60%) showed no postoperative complications.Nutrition immunomodulatory proved beneficial, contributing to maintenance and / or improvement in nutritional status, an important factor in reducing postoperative complications.