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Drinks enriched with arginine, omega-3 fats and nucleotides for a week before a big operation seem to reduce infections afterwards, though the trials are old and mostly industry-funded.
Immune-modulating formulas (arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, RNA nucleotides) given for 5-7 days pre-operatively reduced infectious complications and length of stay in meta-analyses of gastrointestinal and head and neck cancer surgery, with the largest effects in malnourished patients. ESPEN and ERAS guidelines recommend or suggest them for major upper GI and head and neck surgery. The caveats are real: many trials date from the 1990s and 2000s, most were manufacturer-sponsored, heterogeneity is high, and recent well-conducted trials have been null. Whether the benefit is from the immune-modulating components or simply from feeding malnourished patients is unresolved.
Arginine supports T-cell function and nitric oxide-dependent wound healing; omega-3 fatty acids shift eicosanoid synthesis towards less inflammatory mediators; nucleotides supply rapidly dividing immune and gut cells.
Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Immunonutrition before cancer surgery" OR ABSTRACT:"Immunonutrition before cancer surgery") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Immunonutrition before cancer surgery, not a curated reading list.
Shares Prehabilitation (the pre-treatment window), What a prehabilitation programme actually contains, and how long it needs, Enhanced recovery (ERAS) and perioperative nutrition, What the randomised trials of prehabilitation found, operation by operation.
Shares Prehabilitation (the pre-treatment window), What a prehabilitation programme actually contains, and how long it needs, What the randomised trials of prehabilitation found, operation by operation, Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least.
Shares Prehabilitation (the pre-treatment window), What a prehabilitation programme actually contains, and how long it needs, What the randomised trials of prehabilitation found, operation by operation, Diet, exercise and lifestyle roadmap: causes established → interventions that disappointed → exercise proven as treatment.
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Shares Immunonutrition, Nutrition support and cachexia management.
Shares Nutrition support and cachexia management, Diet, exercise and lifestyle roadmap: causes established → interventions that disappointed → exercise proven as treatment, Oesophageal cancer, Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer.
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Shares Enhanced recovery (ERAS) and perioperative nutrition, Nutrition support and cachexia management, Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.