This week's artwork was donated by Kate, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . Many patients experience a loss of appetite and significant reduction in their weight.
Cancer can cause a cachexia wasting syndrome in some patients.
This clinical syndrome includes weight loss, decreased appetite, fatigue, and poor performance status. It is multifactorial in nature and associated with mechanical factors, changes in taste, cytokines, and psychological factors. Many of the treatments for cancer, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy, may decrease a patient's appetite. Patients need to maintain their nutrition to allow normal tissue repair after aggressive cancer treatments. There can be significant problems with healing if the patient has poor nutrition.