Use of Nutritional Supplementation in the Treatment of Cancer Patients

Medical personnel generally believe that some groups of cancer patients have serious nutritional deficiencies and that nutritional supplementation may be an important adjunct to their treatment. Some preliminary research results indicate that nutritional supplementation may have benefited certain cancer patients; however, great uncertainty still exists concerning the extent of possible benefits. During the course of a review of nutritional supplementation in the treatment of cancer patients, GAO obtained information on the nutritional supplementation activities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center and compared them with those of three leading teaching hospitals.