Sabrina is a 42 year old female that has been dx with cancer. She currently weighs 56 kg and the reg The primary focus of nutrition care for Sabrina is: a. preventing iron-deficiency anemia. b. understanding how to administer tube feedings. c. educating her on ways to prevent the recurrence of cancer. d. ensuring appropriate intakes of calories and protein. e. ensuring that she uses herbal supplements.
The correct answer and explanation is:
Correct Answer: d. ensuring appropriate intakes of calories and protein.
The primary focus of nutrition care for Sabrina, a 42-year-old woman diagnosed with cancer and weighing 56 kg, is ensuring appropriate intakes of calories and protein. Cancer significantly increases the body’s metabolic demands and often leads to weight loss, muscle wasting, and malnutrition due to reduced appetite, treatment side effects, and the body’s response to the tumor. Adequate nutrition, particularly sufficient calories and protein, is critical to support the immune system, preserve lean body mass, and promote healing during and after treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery.
Calories provide energy to maintain body functions and prevent the use of lean tissue for fuel. Protein is essential for tissue repair, immune function, and maintaining muscle mass, which often deteriorates in cancer patients. Malnutrition can impair treatment tolerance, delay recovery, increase infection risk, and reduce quality of life. For individuals like Sabrina, who already has a relatively low body weight, maintaining or improving nutritional status is a priority.
Although other options like iron-deficiency anemia prevention, understanding tube feedings, cancer recurrence education, and herbal supplements may be relevant in certain cases, they are not the primary focus at the point of diagnosis and active treatment. Tube feeding may be necessary if Sabrina cannot meet her needs orally, but it would only come after addressing her basic nutritional intake. Herbal supplements can interact negatively with treatments and should be discussed cautiously with her care team. Education about recurrence is part of long-term survivorship care but is not the immediate nutritional priority.
Therefore, the focus must remain on ensuring Sabrina meets her energy and protein needs to optimize her strength, treatment outcomes, and quality of life during her fight against cancer.