One of the biggest challenges for cancer patients receiving treatment is to prevent or reduce malnutrition. Cancer-related malnutrition is more prevalent in patients receiving cancer treatment, from eight to 84 percent, depending on the stage of the cancer and stage.2 However, not all patients suffer from malnutrition, but most experience a decrease in daily diet as they often have side effects. (e.g. loss of taste, bad taste in the mouth, bad taste, sores in the mouth, vomiting, loss of appetite and dysphagia) .3
Poor nutritional status during cancer treatment weakens the patient and makes it harder for proper management, leading to increased hospital stay, reduced treatment tolerance and adverse effects of treatment. The prognosis for patients with weight loss cancer is much worse than for patients who lose weight.
The food market in current clinics offers a wide variety of nutritional support products, but this fails to improve the taste of food, or to favor patients with food.
Side effects of cancer treatment
Changes in taste and smell are a common cause of weight loss and have been reported to be one of the most serious side effects of cancer treatment, as well as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. They are often seen in oncological patients using radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The availability of a variety of attractive food products is limited to oncological patients.
The reported changes in chemically treated cancer patients are high, ranging from between 45 to 84 percent to change taste, and vary in type of cancer and chemotherapy.
Chemosensory changes include a decrease in smell and sensitivity to taste, lack of sense of taste (ageusia), and generalized taste disturbance (dysgeusia) or perception of taste without external stimulus (phantogeusia).
Dysphagia is defined as ‘any disturbance in the swallowing process during the movement of the ball from the space **** to the abdomen’ and is most common in those with cancer of the head and neck. The development of cancer, especially in the mouth, throat or throat, can reduce these problems and cause difficulty swallowing
Current market for oncological patients
The availability of a variety of attractive food products is limited to oncological patients. The current supportive health care market offers a variety of options for patients at risk of malnutrition, which are high-fat supplements or healthy food products. **** Healthy food products are used when patients are malnourished or, on the other hand, in good health but people seek oncological toxic treatment. They are designed to meet the nutritional needs of patients and are usually high energy products added to the diet. The range of products is limited, when milk, soups, purees, or products are converted into more independent models.
The market size of clinical nutrition was estimated at $ 33 billion by 2019 and is expected to grow by more than 5.3 percent of CAGR from 2020 to 2027.7 Other key factors that promote market growth include increased metabolic disorders, increased health consumption and growth rates they are in the middle of an emerging economy.
There are major players in the health food market, but at the moment, there are no food products targeted at cancer patients in the food industry.
ONCOFOOD: a consumer-focused approach
ONCOFOOD is a new project funded by EIT Food (European Institute of Innovation and Technology, European Union) and has an association of European companies, universities and technology institutes (AZTI, University
This project proposes the development and development of a number of dietary solutions that address nutritional needs, sensitivity and texture to promote food enjoyment and prevent malnutrition in oncological patients. These solutions are designed to take into account patients’ opinions and test their acceptance by the target group in order to successfully develop compatible solutions.
“Studies show that healthy eating habits are important for cancer patients and caregivers.
As product design often fails due to differences between product development and consumer expectations and needs, the project was accompanied by a complex series of consumer research activities. These include: (i) state-of-the-art studies investigating patient dietary restrictions, needs and product expectations for fresh food and initial testing of a new set of product concepts; and (ii) limited studies, in which advanced methods were tested by patients to assess their emotional and acceptance characteristics prior to marketing.
Quality research was conducted in three countries (Spain, Poland and the UK), using in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions, with a total of 53 respondents in total including patients, former patients, caregivers and health workers.
Studies have shown that healthy eating habits are important for cancer patients and caregivers. They look carefully at the ingredients for every product they buy; focusing on those who don’t have extra sugar and that’s natural while staying happy. Diet becomes part of the treatment process and is considered a medicine.
Cancer patients from all three countries have expressed their dissatisfaction with the current market availability. There is information on a few products available, but this has been associated with bein