ADHERENCE TO DIETARY GUIDELINES AND WEIGHT CHANGE IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE TRIAL

To evaluate the adherence to dietary guidelines (ADG) and the effectiveness of the nutritional intervention in terms of body weight change (BWC) in patients with early-stage breast cancer (EBC) undergoing treatment. This prospective study included EBC patients addressed to receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy; eligible patients received a nutrition evidence-based tailored educational intervention by a skilled dietitian. Anthropometric and dietary assessments were performed. ADG was estimated through the validated Med-Diet 14-item questionnaire. Health-Related Quality of Life was analyzed with the EORTC QLQ-C30. Descriptive statistics was adopted. Associations between variables and groups according to nutritional variables were analyzed (Chi-square test). From 2016 to 2018, 204 patients were enrolled (median age 49 years). At baseline, 33.3% of patients were overweight and 22.5% were obese. Furthermore, 47.5% of patients gained ≥5% of their usual weight and 74.5% didn't perform physical activity. A significant correlation between baseline BMI and tension was observed (p