P351 - AN INSIGHT INTO BODY COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF OLDER ADULTS RECEIVING SYSTEMIC TREATMENT FOR CANCER: THE EXPERIENCE OF A TERTIARY CANCER CENTRE.

P351

AN INSIGHT INTO BODY COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF OLDER ADULTS RECEIVING SYSTEMIC TREATMENT FOR CANCER: THE EXPERIENCE OF A TERTIARY CANCER CENTRE.

M. Pattwell^1,*, L. E. Eldridge¹

¹Nutrition & Dietetics, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust , London, United Kingdom

Rationale: Ageing and systemic anticancer therapy (SACT) is linked with body composition changes that are associated with adverse events during treatment and poorer outcomes. Early and routine body composition measures and nutritional assessment may help identify and mitigate these changes, improving nutritional status, physical function, quality of life and SACT outcomes.

We describe and explore initial body composition and nutritional screening data of older adults with cancer receiving SACT, under the care of Senior Adult Oncology Programme (SAOP).

Methods: We prospectively collected data on body composition and nutritional screening on patients ≥70 years receiving SACT, managed by the SAOP Dietitian. Descriptive statistics were used as appropriate.

Results: 250 new patients were assessed by the SAOP Dietitian across multiple tumour types. 147 (58.8%) patients presented with weight loss, with an average unintentional weight loss of 5%. The average body mass index (BMI) was 24.9kg/m2; 11 (4.4%) presented underweight, 122 (48.8%) within healthy range, 71 (28.4%) overweight, 39 (15.6%) obese and 7 (2.8%) were unknown. 156 (62.4%) patients’ Mini Nutritional Assessment outcome indicated a risk of malnutrition. 96 patients had their handgrip strength measured; 22 (24%) had a grip below that expected for their age.

Conclusion: Malnutrition risk is consistently prevalent in older adults receiving SACT, across tumour groups. Gaps remain in our knowledge of body composition in older adults with cancer and the impact on treatment outcomes, but the data presented might suggest that sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity is more common than the traditional perception of frailty and malnutrition. Addressing nutritional risk and understanding body composition is key to individualised cancer care and further improved outcomes.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared