Benefits of a Dietitian for Mesothelioma Patients

Why Is a Dietitian Important for Mesothelioma Patients?

A registered dietitian can work with you and your mesothelioma specialists to tailor a custom plan to ensure you get the good nutrition your body needs before, during and after mesothelioma treatment. That plan can be adapted over time as your nutrition needs and symptoms change.

For mesothelioma and other cancer patients, serious malnutrition is a real threat. Mesothelioma patients can experience unique symptoms, making it difficult to eat well. A registered dietitian has the expertise to help address these challenges through medical nutrition therapy or MNT.

In a 2017 Oncotarget paper, researchers described following adult patients with solid tumors who were just starting cancer treatment at 22 cancer facilities in Italy.

Of the 1,952 patients enrolled in the study, 51% were nutritionally impaired, 9% had overt malnutrition and 43% were at risk of developing malnutrition.

Six months prior to beginning cancer treatment, 64% of this patient group had lost weight. Some people had lost more than 20 pounds.

Weight loss before and during cancer treatment is associated with more treatment toxicities and greater likelihood of needing to stop treatment early.

Eating right and balancing your diet while undergoing mesothelioma treatment is critical to your health. It can help reduce malnutrition risk and ease your symptoms.

Based on Your Reading:

Get a Mesothelioma Treatment Guide

Request Yours Today

Find a Top Mesothelioma Doctor

Find Your Doctor

Access Help Paying for Treatment

Get Help Now

What Does the Registered Dietitian Do?

Registered dietitians work with patients to develop a diet plan that will best fuel their body during prolonged medical care such as mesothelioma treatment.

The most common scenario is that patients can eat by mouth during and after treatment.

However, because of lack of appetite, early fullness, difficulty chewing or swallowing, nausea and other symptoms, they may be unable to meet nutrition needs with their usual diet.

The dietitian will develop a plan with protein and calorie goals for preventing unintentional weight loss and to help a patient better tolerate treatment.

When Oral Feeding Is a Challenge

In some cases, eating by mouth isn’t possible because of medical limitations or other disease processes.

When this happens, the registered dietitian will determine if the patient should be fed through a feeding tube inserted into the stomach or upper intestine.

In some cases, patients receive nutrition through their veins with a special solution called total parenteral nutrition, but this is rare for most cancer patients.

Although tube feeding is not common, patients should not be alarmed if it is called for. It will help them get adequate nutrition to tolerate and recover from treatment if chewing, swallowing or other digestive functions are impaired.

What Do Dietitians Include in Your Treatment Eating Plan?

The plan will include food lists and menus to help you meet your goals. This will keep you stronger as you go through treatment.

A dietitian’s treatment eating plan may include information on:

If your symptoms are not well controlled with your current combination of medication and nutritional interventions, the registered dietitian will refer you back to your doctor or nurse.

You can discuss other medication options that may work better for you.

Don’t be tempted to replace your symptom-management medications with nutrition. They should go hand in hand.

Ask for a Referral to a Dietitian

Many cancer centers have just one dietitian or none. This means the on-site dietitian is only going to see a small portion of the patients treated at that facility.

In these cases, you need to seek a dietitian. It really is true that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Your health is at stake. Don’t be afraid to ask for the help you need.

Ideally, your mesothelioma care team will include a dietitian. If you do not have access to one right away, ask for a referral from your doctor or nurse. If possible, obtain a referral to see a dietitian with cancer experience.

However, even a nonspecialist dietitian can offer significant support and develop a plan for adding in more calories and protein each day.

Other Dietitian Resources

If your cancer center does not have a dietitian, ask your nurse for the number to the hospital’s clinical nutrition services. Call this department, explain your situation and ask to see a dietitian in the outpatient clinic.

Another resource is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics free Find an Expert service. Enter your zip code and this creates a map of nearby dietitians who may be available to see you.