Cancers are the leading cause of death worldwide, and various modalities of cancer treatment, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and pharmacological therapies, have been applied. Malnutrition and a loss of muscle mass are encountered frequently in cancer patients and adversely affect the clinical outcomes. Therefore, screening for, monitoring, and treating malnutrition are important procedures in treating cancer patients. This paper reviews the guidelines as well as comparative studies describing the nutritional support provided to cancer patients and describes the evidence-based guidelines and recommendation for each topic.

Underweight and specific nutrient deficiencies are frequent in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In addition, a significant number of children with IBD, particularly Crohn’s disease (CD) have impaired linear growth. Nutritional support is important in patients with IBD and nutritional problems. Enteral nutrition (EN) can reduce CD activity and maintain remission in both adults and children. Given that the ultimate goal in the treatment of CD is mucosal healing, this advantage of EN over corticosteroid treatment is valuable in therapeutic decision-making. EN is indicated in active CD, in cases of steroid intolerance, in patient’s refusal of steroids, in combination with steroids in undernourished individuals, and in patients with inflammatory stenosis of the small intestine. EN should be the first choice compared to total parenteral nutrition. However, EN does not have a primary therapeutic role in ulcerative colitis. In conclusion, it appears that the role of nutrition as supportive care in patients with IBD should not be underestimated. The aim of this comprehensive review is to provide the reader with an update on the role of nutritional support in IBD patients.

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) easily have large amounts of extracellular fluids, such as edema or ascites, because of cardiovascular instability under septic conditions and also have high risk of malnutrition while staying in the ICU. Traditional nutritional assessment parameters like body mass index have a limitation in ICU patients due to muscle atrophy and decrease of lean body mass. Bioimpedence analyses (BIA) can be used to assess body composition and are useful in performance of nutritional assessments in ICU patients. BIA can simply and noninvasively estimate body composition (total body water, extracellular water, intracellular water, body cell mass, and free fat mass etc.) by sending a weak electric current through the body. In particular, phase angle (PhA, phase difference between the voltage applied to the impedance and the current driven through it), one of the parameters of BIA, is related to cell membrane integrity or cell size. Low PhA can possibly imply malnutrition and PhA has been reported as a useful indicator of clinical outcomes or prognosis of severe patients. Additional study with clinical application of BIA in ICU patients is needed in order to confirm the usefulness of BIA.

Refeeding syndrome refers to a life-threatening shift of electrolytes and fluid with metabolic abnormalities in malnourished patients undergoing refeeding, whether orally, enterally, or parenterally. Clinical findings are fluid-balance abnormalities, abnormal glucose metabolism, hypophosphatemia, hypomagnesemia, hypokalemia and deficiencies of vitamin and trace element. Multiple organ systems including cardiac, respiratory, neurologic, renal, hematologic, and gastrointestinal can be affected. When recognized in a timely manner, these complications can be easily and successfully prevented and treated. Four factors appear fundamental: early identification of patients at risk, correction of abnormalities before refeeding, close monitoring during refeeding, and an appropriate feeding regimen.