A web platform has been created to help adapt the diet of people undergoing cancer treatment

‘Eating during cancer treatment’ is a webpage promoted by the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation and developed by Alícia to meet cancer patients’ nutritional needs. This project arises from requests by patients and caregivers who had difficulty finding reliable information to maintain optimal nutrition. They were unsure how to eat during the different treatment phases and when the most common side-effects of the different types of tumours appeared. Various health professionals also expressed the need to have such quality information to better serve their patients.  

For example, the epidemiologist and breast cancer patient Paula Manchón, said that during her treatment in 2019, she had various food-related problems. “On the one hand, directly linked to eating, there is all the pain caused by dryness of the mucous membranes and sores … simply eating can hurt. On the other hand, there is nausea or vomiting, which makes the smell of food unpleasant. Also, food starts to taste metallic or become flavourless, which can also be very unpleasant. All these effects lead to a loss of appetite and not eating enough.”  

Personalised response to the needs that arise during treatment 

When we designed and developed the project, health care professionals, patients and carers were involved from the start, through focus groups, to learn first-hand the real needs of everyone in the dietary field during treatment of the disease. 

In order to lessen the 25 main side-effects of oncological treatment of the 5 most common types of cancer  (breast, head and neck, colon, lung and prostate) and difficulty with eating, this new website offers dietary recommendations, ideas, tips and more than 200 print and video recipes designed to meet patients’ needs. 

To make it easier to find them, users can search by type of cancer or side-effects, or include other filters such as the time of consumption, the food group or other considerations such as intolerances and vegan food.  

There is also a section on Myths and Beliefs that brings together and analyses some of the most common beliefs related to nutrition during cancer treatment. It explains whether they are well-founded or, on the contrary, have no firm scientific basis. According to Paula Manchónthis section is very important. She describes how “when it comes to food, you always have a kind of anxiety about the foods you choose to eat, as you do not know if they will be good for the disease or if they will make the side-effects worse. There was a lack of scientific evidence in this field.”  

The website also sets out 10 key points for your diet during cancer treatment, such as: eat four to five meals a day; eat fruit and vegetables daily; do not neglect protein; and stay hydrated.  

Online format for constant updating 

The web platform was created as an evolution of the seven guides in the “Eating during Cancer Treatment” collection. These included dietary and cooking recommendations to make it easier to provide daily meals for people undergoing different types of cancer treatment. According to the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, moving it online provides an “opportunity to reach many more people and constantly update tumour types and scientific or gastronomic advances”. It makes it possible to filter the recipe finder according to each user’s needs.   

Sum of knowledge 

In addition to Alícia’s team of professionals, other professionals from disciplines such as nutrition and oncology contributed their expertise to the project. For example, Lorena Arribas, a dietitian and nutritionist from the Clinical Nutrition Functional Unit at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Hospitalet, says that “having a good nutritional status avoids certain complications, prevents treatment interruptions and improves patients’ quality of life”.  

Throughout the project, the promoters have been able to count on other leading institutions such as ACSA (Catalan Food Safety Agency) and the Bellvitge and Clínic hospitals in Barcelona.