Malnutrition affects at least 50% of people with cancer, significantly impacting survival rates, quality of life, and healthcare costs. Aiming to change this, the EU-funded initiative MyPath is addressing his critical challenge by implementing a structured Nutritional Care Pathway (NCP), designed to ensure that nutritional support becomes a routine component of cancer care. The details of this approach are outlined in a new publication in ESMO Open.
“Nutrition isn’t just a supplement to cancer care — it’s a lifeline,” says Barry Laird, Professor in Palliative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh – “By embedding nutritional care directly into clinical care, we can transform patient outcomes.”
Proactive Systems Driving Better Outcomes
The MyPath approach uses a digital platform that patients use to report symptoms, weight changes, and dietary challenges in real-time. This continuous flow of information enables healthcare professionals to intervene early, providing timely, personalised support. By integrating nutritional care into routine practice, MyPath ensures proactive management and improved patient outcomes.
“With MyPath, we’re not only improving the treatment of individual patients — we’re also studying how the entire healthcare system can work smarter and more efficiently while ensuring the patient’s voice is heard,” says Stein Kaasa, Professor in Palliative Medicine and lead of MyPath, at the University of Oslo.
With this system in place, people with cancer are more likely to maintain their strength and body weight, tolerate treatments better, and experience an improvement in their quality of life. Early intervention also reduces the risk of complications and lowers the likelihood of hospitalisations, resulting in more effective and efficient care.
Driving Efficiency and High-Quality Care
In addition to enhancing patient outcomes, MyPath supports healthcare in operating more efficiently. By implementing guideline-based nutritional care, it ensures consistent, evidence-based practice in cancer care. It also facilitates shared decision-making between patients and professionals and supports the development of individualised care plans.
Furthermore, MyPath also helps reduce administrative burden by minimising redundant processes and improving coordination. As a result, MyPath contributes to more efficient care delivery while maintaining high standards of quality.
The Nutritional Care Pathway is one element of the MyPath initiative, an EU-funded project focused on developing digital tools to support patient-centred cancer care. The Nutritional Care Pathway is one element of the MyPath initiative, an EU-funded project focused on developing digital tools to support patient-centred cancer care.
Find out more about MyPath at mypath-cancercare.eu.
