PROGNOSIS OF ADVANCED PANCREATIC-CANCER PATIENTS WITH REFERENCE TO CALORIE INTAKE

Progressive weight loss and nutritional deterioration are commonly fou nd in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. There have been few st udies of whether nutritional support improves survival for these patie nts. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between calorie intake and survival in 50 patients who died from cancer. The survival period was calculated from the day when their serum albumin level meas ured <3.0 mg/dl. Total calorie intake was calculated on the basis of d iet and parenteral nutrition for the week before the day when serum al bumin levels fell to <3.0 mg/dl. Patients were divided into a low- and a high-calorie intake group using the median of calorie intake per pr edictive basal metabolism. The survival period was significantly longe r for the high- than for the low-calorie intake group (median 50 vs. 3 2 days, p = 0.02). We also investigated the relationships between calo ries of parenteral nutrition and survival. High-calorie parenteral nut rition subgroups tended to survive longer than low-calorie parenteral nutrition subgroups irrespective of enteral nutrition. Sufficient calo rie intake may have the potential to prolong survival for patients wit h advanced pancreatic cancer.