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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1476463
This article is part of the Research Topic Nutrition and Metabolism in Cancer: Role in Prevention and Prognosis View all 29 articles

Application of Oral Nutritional Supplements to Control Body Weight Loss in Postoperative Patients suffering from Solid Tumors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Ying Liu Ying Liu *Zhen Wu Zhen Wu Tingting Shao Tingting Shao Wanzhen Zheng Wanzhen Zheng Jing Huang Jing Huang
  • Hangzhou Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study aims to summarize the impact of oral nutritional supplements (ONSs) on mitigating body weight loss (BWL) in patients following surgical treatment for solid tumors.Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search of four major publicly available databases was conducted up to May 2024 to identify studies for inclusion in the analysis. Data from eligible studies were extracted, and pooled mean differences (MD) along with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for BWL were computed.Results: A total of 12 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 2268 participants were finally included. The group receiving oral nutritional supplements demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in weight loss compared to the control group, with a mean difference (MD) of 1.11 (95% CI: 0.52–1.70), an I² statistic of 97.0%, and a p-value less than 0.01. Conclusion: The meta-analysis provide evidence that ONSs effectively reduce BWL in postoperative patients with solid tumors. Additionally, ONS with lower daily caloric intake demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing BWL.

    Keywords: Dietary Supplements, Body Weight, Neoplasms, Surgery, meta-analysis Dietary Supplement*", "Food Supplement*", "Oral nutritional supplements", "Nutraceutical*", MeSH term "Neoplasms" OR the keywords "Tumor*", "Neoplasm*", "Cancer*" and "Neoplasia*", the keywords "Surgery", "Operation", "Resection" OR "Microsurgery"

    Received: 05 Aug 2024; Accepted: 29 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wu, Shao, Zheng and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ying Liu, Hangzhou Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.