Cover Introduction ProSure Clinical Studies ... - Abbott Nutrition

Effect of a fish-oil enriched nutritional supplement on metabolic mediators inpatients with pancreatic cancer cachexiaCoverBarber MD, Fearon KCH, Tisdale MJ, McMillan DC, Ross JA Nutr Cancer. 2001;40(2):118-124IntroductionProSureClinical StudiesSupportingPublicationsEPA -eicosapentaenoic acidBarber and colleagues enrolled weight-losing patients with pancreaticcancer in this prospective, single-arm study. Patients had a rate ofweight loss of 2.9 kg/month prior to enrollment.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of a fish-oil enriched nutritional supplementon cytokine and hormonal mediators thought to play a role in cancercachexia.Study Design• Study Population: Pancreatic (n = 20)• Length of Study: 3 weeks• Intervention: 2 servings ProSure (240 mL/serving)OutcomesAfter 3 weeks of consuming a median 1.9 cans/day (range 1.25-2.0) ofthe fish-oil enriched nutritional supplement, patients experienced:• Significant decrease in IL-6 from a median of 16.5 to 13.7 ng/mL;P = 0.015• Significant increase in serum insulin concentration from amedian of 3.3 to 5.0 mU/L; P = 0.0064• Significant decrease in the cortisol-to-insulin ratio (P = 0.0084)• Significant decrease in the percent of patients excretingproteolysis inducing factor from 88% to 40%; P = 0.008• Median weight gain of 1.0 kg (interquartile range -0.1 to +2.0,P = 0.024 versus baseline)Study ConclusionsResults of this study demonstrate that a number of catabolicmediators of cachexia can be modulated by a fish-oil enrichednutritional supplement in patients with pancreatic cancer. Themodulation of these catabolic mediators may explain the reversal ofweight loss observed in the patients consuming this supplement.