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Role of Your Medical Support Team in Cancer Nutrition

Ruth Gibson

Oncology Dietitian

Understanding your Medical Team

When you have cancer, knowing what to eat and drink may feel overwhelming. Eating foods and drinks that support your nutritional needs can help to manage side effects and support energy intake, strength and nutritional status during cancer treatment.

As there’s no one-size-fits-all nutritional diet for people with cancer, having a medical team that understands your nutrition needs, such as a cancer dietitian, can make all the difference to your care. Nutrition advice may differ depending on cancer type, treatment, symptoms, nutritional status and phase of care.

Not all nutrition professionals have the same training or clinical role. Read on to understand more about different members of your medical team, including the difference between a registered cancer dietitian and a nutritionist.

Who Makes Up Your Cancer Nutrition Support Team?

Depending on your individual treatment and needs, your medical team might include:

An oncologist: a doctor who specialises in cancer and leads your treatment plan
Specialist cancer nurses: provide day-to-day support and are often your first point of contact between appointments
A cancer dietitian (or, oncology dietitian): a registered healthcare professional who supports patients get the best nutritional care during cancer treatment
Other healthcare professionals, such as your GP, or a psychologist or counsellor.

Cancer Dietitians and Nutritionists are Not the Same Thing

It is important to understand the difference between registered cancer dietitians and other nutrition professionals.

A dietitian, including a cancer dietitian, is a regulated healthcare professional who looks at your nutritional needs and provides personalised, evidence-based nutrition care before, during and after cancer treatment. This may include helping with treatment side effects, malnutrition, weight and muscle loss and recommending medical nutrition where needed (food for special medical purposes and must be used under medical supervision).

Dietitians work as part of your medical team and are appropriately qualified to provide individualised clinical nutritional assessment and support during cancer treatment.

A registered nutritionist can provide evidence-based information and guidance about food nutrition and health but does not have the same regulated clinical role as a dietitian. They may not be qualified to provide the individual dietary support that someone undergoing cancer treatment may need.

If you are unsure who to speak to, ask your care team. They will point you in the right direction.

Why Medical Support is Important for Cancer Nutrition

Cancer and its treatment can make eating difficult and can put you at risk of malnutrition. Nutrition challenges for people with cancer may include:

Loss of appetite: feeling little or no desire to eat, even when your body needs energy
Taste changes: such as a metallic taste in the mouth, all food tasting bland or food tasting different to how it used to; this can make eating less enjoyable, but it is important to continue to eat and seek support for this
Nausea and vomiting (feeling or being sick): a side effect of treatment that can make eating hard
Difficulty swallowing : caused by certain cancers or treatments.

Some people with cancer develop cachexia, a complex metabolic syndrome involving ongoing loss of skeletal muscle, with or without loss of body fat. Reduced food intake may contribute to this, but inflammation and changes in metabolism caused by the cancer can also play an important role. It cannot always be fully reversed by increasing food intake alone, which is why early multidisciplinary assessment is important. (1)

Malnutrition is common in some groups of people with cancer particularly where the cancer or its treatment affects appetite, swallowing, digestion or nutrient intake. Risk varies considerably according to tumour site, disease stage, treatment and individual circumstances. (2)

Yet cancer malnutrition is not inevitable. With the right nutritional support, it's possible to improve food intake (3), and improve quality of life during your cancer journey (3).

People with cancer may be screened for risk of malnutrition at different points during their care. Unintentional weight loss, reduced intake, a low BMI or symptoms that interfere with eating may prompt a referral to a dietitian for a full nutritional assessment.

DID YOU KNOW?

There is no one-size-fits-all diet for people with cancer. A cancer dietitian can help you build a nutrition plan that works for you.

How Your Medical Team Supports Diet and Nutrition During Treatment

One of the most important roles of your medical team is to provide practical, personalised guidance. Nutritional support can help you meet your nutritional needs, which will help with maintaining weight and muscle mass. This is important because unintentional weight and muscle mass loss are associated with lower tolerance to treatment.

Personalised Nutrition Care

There is no single 'cancer diet'. The best approach for each person depends on the type of cancer, treatment type and stage, and individual needs and desires. A cancer nutrition plan may focus on:

Maintaining nutritional status, weight and muscle mass where possible, particularly when appetite or food intake is reduced
Managing certain side effects, like feeling or being sick, feeling tired, or mouth sores
Rebuilding strength during recovery.

Diet tips for people with cancer should also take into account practical realities, like what foods are available, affordable and appealing when appetite is poor. The best cancer diet plans are flexible, realistic and personalised.

Managing Nutrition During Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy

Many people with cancer experience symptoms during cancer and its treatment that affect eating and drinking, including (4):

Reduced appetite or early satiety (feeling full after eating a small amount of food)
Fatigue (tiredness)
Sore or dry mouth
Sore throat
Nausea (feeling sick)
Constipation (difficulty opening the bowels) or diarrhoea (loose or frequent bowel movements)
Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), which should be reported to the healthcare team, as assessment by a speech and language therapist and/or dietitian may be required
Taste changes such as a persistent metallic flavour or a complete loss of taste altogether.

Rather than leaving people to work through these challenges alone, an oncology dietitian can provide individualised nutrition advice for people with cancer, adjusting recommendations as side effects change over time.

Medical Nutrition Support

If nutritional requirements cannot be met through food and drinks alone, an oncology dietitian or an appropriately trained healthcare professional may recommend oral nutritional supplements (ONS). According to clinical practice guidelines, people with cancer who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition should receive nutritional support to help increase their intake, starting with dietary advice and symptom management and progressing to ONS where needed (5). ONS products are food for special medical purposes and must be used under medical supervision.

Oral nutritional supplements are not the same as everyday foods, vitamins, minerals or herbal supplements. They are specially formulated products designed to provide energy, protein, and other nutrients. ONS are selected by healthcare professionals for their patients according to their nutritional requirements.

For some people who cannot meet nutritional needs orally, medical nutrition may be considered following multidisciplinary assessment. This includes enteral nutrition (where nutrition is delivered through a feeding tube directly into the stomach or small bowel). Enteral tube feed products are food for special medical purposes and must be used under medical supervision.

Vitamins, Minerals and Herbal Supplements

Some vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements can interact with cancer treatments. Check with your care team or oncology dietitian before starting high-dose vitamins or antioxidant supplements, herbal remedies or other complementary products.

Monitoring and Adjusting Nutrition Over Time

As cancer treatment changes, so do nutritional needs, and what worked in week one of chemotherapy may look very different by week six. So, any cancer nutrition plan should adapt as treatment progresses.

Your healthcare team may monitor changes in weight, symptoms, food intake and relevant blood results. Where nutritional concerns are identified, an oncology dietitian can carry out a more detailed nutritional assessment and adapt the nutrition care plan as the treatment progresses.

Tips for People with Cancer and Their Carers

It can be hard to navigate nutrition during cancer treatment. Your medical team can help you tailor nutritional plan based on your needs and advice you to follow some practical steps both for people living with cancer and their carers, like:

For people with cancer:

Report symptoms like nausea, taste changes, or appetite loss to your medical team as soon as possible.
If advised by your dietitian, keeping a short record of what you eat and drink and any symptoms may help identify patterns and guide advice.
If you're eating less than usual, losing weight unintentionally, becoming weaker, or finding eating or drinking difficult, ask whether a referral to an oncology dietitian is appropriate.
If you are losing weight without trying, or regularly struggling to finish meals, speak to your care team.

For carers:

Join appointments when you can, as hearing advice first-hand can make it easier to support at home.
Ask your loved ones’ medical team for guidance on managing appetite loss.
Keep meals simple and flexible. Small, frequent, easy-to-eat options may be better than rigid mealtimes and large portions.
Try not to pressure the person to eat. Appetite and food preferences can change considerably during treatment and encouragement without pressure is often more helpful.
Ask for help yourself. Carers often struggle in silence, and your team can point you toward practical resources and support.

Key Takeaways

Cancer nutrition shouldn’t be an afterthought. Good nutritional care can help maintain your nutritional status, which is important for supporting strength and function, helping manage nutrition-impacting symptoms, and supporting recovery during and after treatment.

If you or someone you care for is having difficulty eating, losing weight unintentionally or has concerns about nutrition, speak to the healthcare team early and ask whether referral to an oncology dietitian would be helpful.

Oncology Dietitian

Ruth Gibson

In the UK, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Oncology Specialist Group produces evidence-based information for people affected by cancer, including guidance on cancer diet myths and nutritional issues during treatment.

References:

[1] Fearon K, et al. Definition and classification of cancer cachexia: an international consensus. Lancet Oncol. 2011 May;12(5):489-95.
[2] Ryan A, et al. Cancer-associated malnutrition, cachexia and sarcopenia: the skeleton in the hospital closet 40 years later. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2016;75(2):199-211.
[3] Baldwin C, et al. Oral nutritional interventions in malnourished patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Mar 7;104(5):371-85.
[4] Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust Cancer Centre. Diet and cancer videos. Available at: https://www.royalsurrey.nhs.uk/dietandcancervideos (accessed on 10 September 2026)
[5] Arends J, et al. ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients. Clinical Nutrition. 2017;36:11-48

Disclaimer

This information is provided for educational purposes only. It is general in nature and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare team regarding any questions or concerns about your health or care.