Nutritional and health status of Colorectal Cancer Patients - baseline study

Colorectal cancer represents a significant global health burden, impacting millions of lives each year. Beyond the immediate challenges of diagnosis and treatment, colorectal cancer patients often face a cascade of complex issues affecting their quality of life, including impaired nutritional status and compromised health. The aim of this study was to examine initial nutritional and health status of patients with colorectal cancer. Basic anthropometric measurements were collected from 45 colorectal cancer patients at the initial nutritional counselling and prior to the start of treatment. At the same time, health-related quality of life was examined using a 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36). Results show weight loss amongst a substantial proportion of patients in the three months prior to the first nutrition counseling, 68.9% of patients lost weight, and 15.6% of patients gained weight. Patients with right-sided colorectal cancer have unfavorable anthropometric indices in comparison to left-sided colorectal cancer patients including lower muscle mass, higher waist to hip ratio, body fat, visceral fat index and higher waist circumference. In regard to health-related quality of life, the results show that right-sided and left-sided colorectal cancer patients significantly differ only in emotional functioning (p=0.036). Early nutritional assessment and implementation of nutritional support can contribute to the quality of life and maintenance of normal nutritional status in patients with colorectal cancer