Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Cancers Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy

Print Special Issue Flyer
Editor
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 6 January 2027 | Viewed by 1785

Share This Special Issue

Editor

Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima

E-Mail
Guest Editor

Division of Molecular Epidemiology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Nishi-shimbashi 3-25-8, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan
Interests: molecular epidemiology; randomized clinical trials; nutritional epidemiology; Vitamin D; cancer prognosis; personalized medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Standard cancer treatments frequently rely on generalized dosing protocols, such as body surface area (BSA), which often overlook individual metabolic variability. This Special Issue explores the critical shift from these "one-size-fits-all" approaches to personalized adjunctive therapies. We aim to investigate how anthropometric and nutritional parameters—including BMI, vitamin D status, and inflammatory markers (e.g., CRP, hemoglobin)—influence treatment efficacy and toxicity.

Key topics include the impact of host factors on immunotherapy outcomes and survival in recurrent or metastatic cases, and the potential of adjunctive agents, such as statins, to modulate chronic inflammation. Furthermore, we invite research on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to optimize pharmacokinetics (e.g., for 5-FU) based on nutritional status. This collection seeks to establish evidence for personalized strategies that enhance clinical outcomes by accounting for individual metabolic differences.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to present the new insights into how anthropometric and nutritional parameters influence cancer treatment outcomes, facilitating the transition from standardized dosing to personalized therapeutic strategies.

This Special Issue welcomes reviews as well as original research articles, which should be submitted by 6 January 2027.

Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

anthropometry
body mass index (BMI)
body surface area (BSA)
personalized medicine
therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM)
pharmacokinetics
nutritional status
chemotherapy optimization
vitamin D
adjunctive therapy

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3306 KB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Prognostic Value of Preoperative Temporal Muscle Thickness and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index in Surgically Treated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

by Takuya Miura, Hisashi Kessoku, Yohei Morishita, Toshiki Kobayashi, Yosuke Mizunari, Shinichi Okada, Hiroto Ohto, Masato Nagaoka and Hiromi Kojima

Cancers 2026, 18(14), 2221; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18142221 - 10 Jul 2026

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Temporal muscle thickness (TMT) has been proposed as a practical surrogate marker for skeletal muscle mass, whereas the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) reflects nutritional status. However, the independent and combined prognostic value of TMT and GNRI in surgically treated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains unclear. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 214 patients with HNSCC who underwent curative-intent surgery. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models. In the primary analyses, TMT and GNRI were entered simultaneously as continuous variables and adjusted for age, sex, clinical stage, and postoperative adjuvant treatment. For clinical interpretability, Kaplan–Meier analyses were additionally performed using a composite TMT–GNRI score. Results: In the multivariable analyses, higher TMT was independently associated with longer DFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.83 per 1 mm increase, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72–0.96, p = 0.014) and OS (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.60–0.89, p = 0.002). GNRI was significantly associated with DFS and OS in the univariate analyses; after simultaneous adjustment for TMT and clinical covariates, it remained independently associated with OS (HR 0.98 per 1-point increase, 95% CI 0.96–0.99, p = 0.015) and showed a borderline association with DFS (HR 0.984, 95% CI 0.966–1.001, p = 0.068). Kaplan–Meier analyses using the composite TMT–GNRI score demonstrated clear risk stratification, with the poorest outcomes observed in patients with concomitantly low TMT and low GNRI. Conclusions: In surgically treated HNSCC, preoperative TMT was independently associated with both DFS and OS. GNRI may provide additional prognostic information, particularly for OS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3688 KB

Open AccessArticle

Parathyroid Hormone Modifies the Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Risk of Relapse or Death in Patients with Digestive Tract Cancer: A Post Hoc Subgroup Analysis of the AMATERASU Randomized Clinical Trial

by Akitaka Sasaki, Taisuke Akutsu, Hironori Ohdaira, Yutaka Suzuki, Ken Eto and Mitsuyoshi Urashima

Cancers 2026, 18(12), 2015; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18122015 - 22 Jun 2026

Viewed by 255

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Parathyroid hormone (PTH), which rises compensatory with vitamin D insufficiency and has been shown to down-regulate vitamin D receptor expression, represents a biologically plausible effect modifier. We investigated whether pretreatment serum PTH modifies the effect of postoperative vitamin D supplementation on relapse-free survival, and whether adding tumor p53 status further refines subgroup identification in an exploratory analysis. Methods: This post hoc analysis utilized data from the AMATERASU trial (UMIN000001977), a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating vitamin D3 (2000 IU/day) versus placebo in patients with curatively resected stage I–III digestive tract cancers (maximum follow-up, 7.5 years). Patients were dichotomized at the cohort median PTH (41 pg/mL). The primary outcome was relapse-free survival (RFS), analyzed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Of 417 randomized patients, 410 had baseline PTH data. In the lower PTH subgroup (≤41 pg/mL), vitamin D significantly improved RFS compared with placebo (fully adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24–0.81; p = 0.008). Conversely, no benefit was observed in the higher PTH subgroup (>41 pg/mL; fully adjusted HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.64–2.44; p for interaction = 0.016). Exploratory stratification of 365 patients with p53 data showed that the supplementation benefit appeared greatest in patients with both low PTH (≤41 pg/mL) and p53-positive tumors (fully adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.18–0.78; p = 0.009). Conclusions: Pretreatment serum PTH is a candidate effect modifier of postoperative vitamin D supplementation in digestive tract cancers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 7000 KB

Open AccessArticle

Plasma 5-Fluorouracil Exposure, Clinical Outcomes, and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Advanced Colorectal Cancer

by Naoki Sakuyama, Kiichi Nagayasu, Yu Abe, Takumi Ochiai and Futoshi Shibasaki

Cancers 2026, 18(10), 1673; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18101673 - 21 May 2026

Viewed by 344

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Body-surface-area-based dosing of continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil does not account for inter-individual pharmacokinetic variability. This pilot study explored whether patient-level representative plasma 5-fluorouracil exposure within the target area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) range was associated with clinical outcomes. It evaluated a prototype immunochromatographic assay as a preliminary monitoring tool. Methods: Fifteen patients with unresectable advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer who received continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy were prospectively evaluated between 1 January 2017 and 30 April 2018. Plasma 5-fluorouracil levels were measured during eight treatment cycles at three time points in each cycle. Representative AUC values were calculated using median concentrations across cycles and interpreted as exploratory patient-level exposure indices. Tumor response, grade ≥2 adverse events, progression-free survival, and overall survival were assessed descriptively. Results: The median representative AUC was 24.3 mg·h/L. Eight patients (53.3%) were within the target range of 20–30 mg·h/L, whereas seven (46.7%) were outside it. Disease control was observed in 7 of 8 patients (87.5%) within the target range and in 3 of 7 patients (42.9%) outside it. Grade ≥2 adverse events were less frequent in the target-range group (2/8, 25.0%) than in the outside-range group (6/7, 85.7%; p = 0.041). Progression-free survival was numerically longer in the target-range group (17.2 vs. 9.2 months, p = 0.36), while overall survival did not differ clearly (p = 0.76); these survival analyses were exploratory. The prototype immunochromatographic assay showed a favorable correlation with the My-5FU assay (R2 = 0.762), but Bland–Altman analysis showed relatively wide limits of agreement. Conclusions: Target plasma 5-fluorouracil exposure was associated with lower clinically relevant toxicity and may support favorable tumor control in this pilot cohort. The prototype immunochromatographic method demonstrated preliminary feasibility for rapid plasma 5-FU monitoring but requires further validation before routine dose adjustment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 1166 KB

Open AccessArticle

Association of Underweight, Sarcopenia, and Cancer Cachexia with Survival Outcomes in Hypopharyngeal Cancer Radiotherapy

by Natsuo Tomita, Daisuke Kawakita, Takuma Matoba, Kiyoshi Minohara, Sho Iwaki, Koji Tsukamoto, Masanosuke Oguri, Nozomi Kita, Akira Torii, Masanari Niwa, Dai Okazaki, Taiki Takaoka, Shinichi Iwasaki and Akio Hiwatashi

Cancers 2026, 18(8), 1244; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18081244 - 14 Apr 2026

Viewed by 750

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates the association of pretreatment underweight, sarcopenia, and cancer cachexia with survival outcome in hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC) radiotherapy. Methods: This retrospective observational study analyzed 167 patients with newly diagnosed HPC treated with definitive radiotherapy. The definitions of underweight, sarcopenia, and cancer cachexia are based on the international consensus of the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative. Underweight and sarcopenia were analyzed in all 167 patients, while cachexia analyses were restricted to the 117 patients for whom pretreatment weight-loss data were available. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log-rank test, and subsequently analyzed using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The median follow-up period was 28 months. Cachexia analyses were restricted to the 117 patients for whom pretreatment weight-loss data were available; of these, 45 (38%) met criteria for cancer cachexia. Patients with underweight (n = 76, 46%) or cancer cachexia had significantly lower locoregional control, disease-free survival, and overall survival compared to those not underweight and without cachexia, respectively, whereas there was no difference in any outcome between patients with sarcopenia (n = 54, 32%) and those without. Given the definitional overlap among underweight, sarcopenia, and cachexia, these three variables were entered into the multivariate analysis separately—which included age, sex, performance status, double cancer, T-classification, N-classification, chemotherapy administration, treatment era, and radiation dose—confirming that underweight and cancer cachexia remained independently associated with worse LRC, DFS, and OS. In the fully adjusted multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, the hazard ratios for mortality risk were 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–3.4; p = 0.030) and 2.0 (95% CI, 1.1–3.8; p = 0.032) for patients with underweight or cancer cachexia, respectively. Conclusions: Pretreatment underweight and cancer cachexia negatively impact survival outcomes, including locoregional control, in HPC radiotherapy. Prospective studies with standardized nutritional assessment protocols, pre-specified intervention arms, and sufficient sample sizes are essential to validate these findings and to establish the clinical benefit of pre-treatment nutritional optimization in this patient population. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Nutrition in Cancer Care: From Generalized to Personalized Adjunctive Therapy

Share This Special Issue

Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI