{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T00:56:20Z","timestamp":1792803380159,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001720","name":"Nutricia Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["RG 6\/2013"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RG 6\/2013"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001720","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with anorexia\u2013cachexia syndrome, which negatively affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to evaluate HRQoL and functional status in CRC patients undergoing chemotherapy who were eligible for oral nutritional supplementation (ONS). Methods: In this prospective, randomized study, 72 patients with stage II\u2013IV CRC were enrolled (40 intervention group [IG], 32 control group [CG]). IG received ONS (2 \u00d7 125 mL\/day, 600 kcal, 36 g protein) for 12 weeks, while CG received dietary counseling only. HRQoL was assessed every 4 weeks with the Functional Assessment of Anorexia\/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT, version 4.0). Functional status was evaluated with the Karnofsky scale. Nutritional status was assessed using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS-2002), and body mass index (BMI), and appetite was assessed on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02848807. Results: Mean FAACT score did not differ significantly between groups over 12 weeks (101.0 \u00b1 22.8, 95% CI: 94.6\u2013107.4 vs. 105.1 \u00b1 21.4, 95% CI: 99.1\u2013111.1; p = 0.06). However, the observed difference corresponded to an effect size at the lower bound of the moderate range. However, minimally important difference (MID) analysis demonstrated that clinically meaningful improvement was significantly more frequent in IG than in CG for global FAACT (32% vs. 8%; p = 0.03, OR = 5.50, 95% CI: 1.10\u201327.62, \u03c6 = 0.29), physical well-being (32% vs. 8%; p = 0.03, OR = 5.50, 95% CI: 1.10\u201327.62, \u03c6 = 0.29), and emotional well-being (38% vs. 4%; p = 0.002, OR = 14.86, 95% CI: 1.79\u2013123.36, \u03c6 = 0.40). Functional well-being and anorexia\/cachexia concerns showed favorable, but nonsignificant, trends (FWB improvement: 29% vs. 8%, p = 0.05, OR = 4.79, 95% CI: 0.95\u201324.27, \u03c6 = 0.26; ACS deterioration: 3% vs. 20%, p = 0.07, OR = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.01\u20131.11, \u03c6 = 0.28). HRQoL correlated positively with nutritional status, appetite, and functional performance, while Karnofsky scores remained stable in both groups. Conclusions: ONS did not significantly change the mean QoL scores at the group level but increased the proportion of patients achieving clinically meaningful improvement, particularly in the physical and emotional domains. These findings suggest that ONS may benefit selected patients who respond to nutritional interventions, underscoring the clinical relevance of individualized nutrition strategies in oncology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18020191","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T09:34:12Z","timestamp":1767778452000},"page":"191","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Quality of Life of Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Chemotherapy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1234-2764","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"Zi\u0119tarska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology, University Clinical Center in Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119binki 7, 80-952 Gdansk, Poland"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Nutrition, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119binki 7, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8773-9649","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sylwia","family":"Ma\u0142gorzewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Nutrition, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119binki 7, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"338","DOI":"10.1136\/gutjnl-2022-327736","article-title":"Global burden of colorectal cancer in 2020 and 2040: Incidence and mortality estimates from GLOBOCAN","volume":"72","author":"Morgan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2025, June 05). 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