Clinical efficacy of oral enteral nutrition in lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background and Objectives: the effects of oral enteral nutrition (EN) in lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy were controversial, so we made a systematic review to analyze the clinical efficacy of EN in lung cancer patients after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Methods and Study Design: Pertinent studies were identified by searching in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Database, China Biomedical Literature database (CBM) and Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP). Energy intake, protein intake, weight and other data were extracted. Results: Finally, 5 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this systematic review. Patients in 3 studies received chemotherapy, in 1 with radiotherapy and in 1 with chemo-radiotherapy. The combined results showed that EN significantly increased energy and protein intake in lung cancer during chemotherapy, while there was no significant effect on other results after patients had received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Conclusions: Limited evidence is available to judge whether EN can improve clinical effect of lung cancer with or without chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, as clinical heterogeneity and other potential variation existed in this review. Further studies are needed