Malnutrition and sarcopenia in cancer: practical tools for earlier action
The Cancer-related Malnutrition and Sarcopenia Implementation Toolkit has been developed by the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) to help clinicians and health services put the recommendations of the COSA Cancer-related Malnutrition and Sarcopenia Position Statement into practice.
Importantly for cancer nurses, the toolkit reinforces that all people with cancer should be screened for malnutrition and sarcopenia at diagnosis and again as their clinical situation changes. People identified as being at risk should then receive further assessment and appropriate multidisciplinary support.
The online toolkit brings together guidance across screening, assessment, treatment, multidisciplinary care and transitions of care, alongside practical tools, case studies and links to evidence-based resources. It includes information on validated assessment approaches, managing physical and psychosocial symptoms that may affect nutrition and activity, and working with dietitians, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and the broader multidisciplinary team.
For cancer nurses, it provides a useful resource for recognising risk, prompting further assessment and referral, supporting people to manage nutrition-impact symptoms, and strengthening conversations about nutrition, muscle health and physical activity across the cancer trajectory.
Learning objectives
- Using the toolkit can support cancer nurses to:
- recognise the importance of early and repeated screening for cancer-related malnutrition and sarcopenia;
- understand when further assessment may be required following identification of risk;
- recognise physical and psychosocial factors that can affect nutritional intake, muscle health and physical function;
- identify appropriate multidisciplinary referral and treatment pathways;
- support people affected by cancer with evidence-based information and resources relating to nutrition, exercise and symptom management; and
- consider how screening, assessment and management of malnutrition and sarcopenia can be embedded within local cancer care pathways.
