The main goal of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy is to shrink the tumour.
A healthy and balanced diet, with foods from all food groups in proper amounts in the right frequency, provides all the nutrients needed to properly maintain the body and its functions, while also ensuring the calories and proteins essential to maintain good nutrition. The first recommendation is to ensure sufficient and balanced nutrition, which should be adapted according to the possible side effects of the treatment being received and the complications or specific situations derived from the location, size and stage of the tumour.
The tumour itself can cause symptoms that lead to lower intake: abdominal pain and/or acid reflux, loss of appetite, difficulty or pain swallowing, nausea and vomiting, a premature sense of fullness. Once treatment begins, these symptoms may worsen and they may be joined by others, such as diarrhoea, mouth sores or altered taste sensitivity. Maintaining sufficient and nutritionally adequate food intake can become complicated when these symptoms appear, so it is important to adapt the diet based on the following dietary-culinary recommendations for each one.