The impact of nutrition on palliative care in patients with gastric cancer

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Gastric Cancer (GC) is an aggressive, predominant pathology and does not have a prior knowledge of specialists, which results in a poor prognosis. In this context, palliative care consists of helping a multidisciplinary team to improve the quality of life of patients and their families in the face of potentially fatal diseases. OBJECTIVE: To verify the impact of nutrition in palliative care in patients with gastric cancer. METHODOLOGY: An integrative review was carried out that followed the PRISMA criteria. The search for articles was carried out in the PubMed, Scielo, Lilacs and Virtual Health Library databases, using the descriptors in Portuguese and English: "Gastric cancer", "Palliative care", "Nutrition", "gastric cancer", "Palliative care" and "nutrition", joined with the Boolean operator "AND". Access to the databases was carried out from August to September 2021. RESULTS: 89 articles were found and after applying the inclusion criteria, there remained 10 articles. Gastric cancer has a strong impact on the physical capacity, psychological well-being and social life of patients, having a significant influence on nutritional status and quality of life. However, it was noticed that nutrition in palliative care in patients with gastric cancer plays an important role in the lives of terminally ill patients.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that end-of-life nutrition should consider individual needs, preferences and dietary habits. essential for controlling symptoms and ensuring satisfaction and comfort.