Nutrition and Cachexia

The MASCC Nutrition and Cachexia Study Group encourages broad-based research and state-of-the-art clinical practice in all areas of clinical nutrition as it relates to cancer.

The study group aims to increase awareness of guidelines for the appropriate use of nutritional support in cancer patients and to promote appropriate use of palliative and therapeutic strategies in the management of anorexia and weight loss in patients with advanced cancer. The group seeks to develop and coordinate new evidence-based guidelines and to further improve clinical practice by encouraging research in areas where scientific literature is lacking.

Within this broad purview, areas of focus include new and emerging management strategies and the use of nutrition-based complementary and alternative medicine therapies. Given its multinational nature, the study group maintains sensitivity, in all its endeavors, to cultural and economic differences in cancer populations around the world.

This study group serves as a resource to other study groups and all MASCC members, as well as to the broader research community, with respect to the development of both laboratory research and practice guidelines on clinical nutrition in relation to cancer.