Many patients diagnosed with cancer adopt dietary changes and supplement use, and a growing body of evidence suggests that such modifications can affect outcomes to cancer therapy. We sought to assess the prevalence of these practices and the surrounding physician-patient dialogue among patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. An online survey was administered by Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure), interrogating dietary modification patterns, supplement usage, out-of-pocket expenditure related to supplements, and patients' views toward alternative medicine practices. Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma receiving combination therapy were actively solicited. In total, 289 unique responses were collected. The most common first-line treatments were nivolumab/ipilimumab (32.4%) and axitinib/pembrolizumab (13.1%). Within the cohort, 147 (50.9%) started using supplements following diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma; the most utilized supplements were probiotics, cannabidiol (CBD) oil/marijuana, and Vitamin C, reported by 70 (47.6%), 61 (41.4%), and 54 (36.7%), respectively. Dietary modifications following cancer diagnosis were reported by 101 (34.9%) respondents, of which 19.8% followed the Mediterranean diet and 18.8% adopted a ketogenic diet. Most respondents (71.3%) noted that they consistently report supplement usage to their physicians. A substantial proportion of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma utilize dietary modification and supplements as an adjunct to antineoplastic therapy. Considering the widespread adoption of these practices and the reported effects on cancer treatment, it is crucial for healthcare providers to engage in discussions with patients regarding supplement use.
Nutrients. 2024 May 26*** epublish ***
Hedyeh Ebrahimi, Dena Battle, Nicholas J Salgia, Zeynep B Zengin, Nazli Dizman, Luis Meza, Cristiane D Bergerot, Regina Barragan-Carrillo, JoAnn Hsu, Daniela Castro, Benjamin Mercier, Neal Chawla, Xiaochen Li, Abhishek Tripathi, Sandy T Liu, Alex Chehrazi-Raffle, Ulka Vaishampayan, Michael D Staehler, Sumanta K Pal
Department of Medical Oncology & Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA., Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure), Alexandria, VA 22314, USA., Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA., Department of Internal Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA., Oncoclinicas&Co-Medica Scientia Innovation Research (MEDSIR), Sao Paulo 04543906, Brazil., City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, Irvine, CA 92618, USA., Department of Medicine/Oncology, Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA., Department of Urology, University Hospital Munich-Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilian University, 80539 Munich, Germany.