Nutritional and metabolic rehabilitation for long-term cancer survivors: Give life the right weight

Introduction: Aim of this study is to focus on the metabolic and nutritional status of long-term cancer survivors, i.e. subjects with a previous diagnosis of cancer, but disease and treatment-free for at least 5 years. The study was designed to gain new insights into the issues of cancer survivorship; in January 2007 the Italian Ministry of Health has supported a national multicentric study, named Medical and Psychological Rehabilitation Program for Long Term Cancer Survivors. Within the Medical and Psychological Rehabilitation Program for Long Term Cancer Survivors, the subproject "nutritional and metabolic rehabilitation for long-term cancer survivors" was performed. Aim of this subproject was to collect data about the characteristics of cancer survivors in Italy and their nutritional status, and to evaluate the presence of metabolic and/or lifestyle changes and prescribed treatments (pharmacological, behavioral, or both). Materials and methods: A brief questionnaire was elaborated to collect data about lifestyle, dietary habits, metabolic imbalances, and possible treatments in Italian cancer survivors. Subjects were recruited by the participant oncologic groups, and the data collected were evaluated by our group. Results: From November 2009 to May 2011, 226 cancer survivors were recruited. Breast cancer accounted for 88.17% of cancers in the group of females and 79.2% in the total sample. Questionnaire analysis showed a high prevalence of the conditions of overweight and obesity; however, only 21.7% of the subjects received nutritional assessment and/or dietary interventions, only 22.5% of the patients modified their lifestyle, and only 32% modified their dietary habits. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that, at present, the lack of knowledge about cancer survivorship, leave the emerging needs of the growing population of cancer survivors largely unmet by the National Healthcare Plans. Cancer survivors need more answers about their health, including dietary and lifestyle changes. The analysis shows that in Italy the Mediterranean lifestyle model is scarcely adopted among cancer survivors. More research is needed to develop cost-effective strategies to improve both the quality and quantity of survivorship in these subjects. © 2013 SINPE-GASAPE.