Improving Nutritional Care for Cancer Patients in Germany
- 15.02.2016
- English Articles
- Working Group on Prevention and Integrative Oncology (PRIO) (ed.)
Joint Position Paper from the German Cancer Society‘s (GCS) Working Group on Prevention and Integrative Oncology (PRIO), in collaboration with other associations
Each and every individual has the right to food. This is indispensable for life and therefore a generally accepted good in our society. In cancer patients, nutritional deficiency can exacerbate the course of the disease. However, as the majority of us are overfed, deterioration in nutritional status is mostly overlooked. But a loss in weight rapidly leads to a change in body composition. This in turn can cause a “metabolic risk”, which may influence cancer patients‘ tolerance, prognosis and quality of life.Thus it is essential that any treatment plan for cancer patients must be supported by adequate nutrition. This is why we are under an ethical obligation to pay attention to nutritional status and to accept that nutritional therapy is an essential part of cancer treatment [1].
Cancer patients in Germany often have to submit to restrictions in their nutrition, caused by both their disease and their therapy. They suffer from nutritional deficiency, without being provided with appropriate nutritional therapy. However, providing cancer patients with adequate nutrition is an important part of their treatment. It is a component of any comprehensive therapeutic concept and is just as important as other types of supportive therapy. Deficient nutrition is not only a violation of patients‘ fundamental rights; it causes suffering and shortens survival. One of its consequences is an irresponsible burden on the health system.
For this reason, the undersigned associations and institutions are of the opinion that technical experts, politicians and society have the common duty to ensure that all cancer patients enjoy access to appropriate nutritional therapy [1].
