Purpose: Malnutrition is a common occurrence in ovarian cancer and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. We evaluated the impact of improvement in nutritional status on ovarian cancer survival.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on a case series of 98 ovarian cancer patients. Subjective global assessment (SGA) was used to evaluate nutritional status. Patients were classified as well-nourished (SGA A) or moderately-severely malnourished (SGA B/C). Patients were classified into four groups: (1) well-nourished at baseline and 3 months, (2) malnourished at baseline, well-nourished at 3 months, (3) malnourished at baseline and 3 months, (4) well-nourished at baseline, malnourished at 3 months.
Results: Of 98 patients, 20 were newly diagnosed while 78 had received prior treatment. The median age at presentation was 55.3 years. At baseline, the median survival for SGA A (N=46) was 20.3 months while for SGA B/C (N=52) was 9.8 months (p=0.03). At 3 months, the median survival for SGA A (N=63) was 19.9 months while for SGA B/C (N=35) was 3.7 months (p<0.001). Patients with an improved nutritional status at 3 months had a significantly better survival than those with deteriorated nutritional status independent of age, stage at diagnosis, prior treatment history, and tumor response as determined by CA125.
Conclusions: Improvement in nutritional status is associated with better survival. Consequently, our findings lend support to the importance of aggressive nutritional intervention in improving patient outcomes in oncology.