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Nutrition and Lifestyle in Cancer Care, Prevention and Survivorship

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutritional Epidemiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2026 | Viewed by 330

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
Interests: cancer; nutrition; metabolomics; epigenetics; environment; food contaminants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor Assistant
Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
Interests: cancer; mass spectrometry; environmental toxicology; heavy metals; epigenetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer remains a major global public health challenge, with diet and lifestyle factors increasingly recognized as modifiable determinants of risk, treatment response, and long-term outcomes. Extensive epidemiologic evidence links healthy dietary patterns, physical activity, body weight management, and avoidance of harmful exposures (e.g., excessive alcohol) with reduced cancer incidence and improved survival, underscoring the critical role of nutrition and lifestyle across the cancer continuum. Traditionally, research in this field has emphasized primary prevention; however, burgeoning data indicate that nutritional status and lifestyle interventions can influence treatment tolerance, quality of life, recurrence risk, comorbidity burden, and survivorship trajectories.

This Special Issue emphasizes a systematic epidemiology approach to generate rigorous and actionable evidence. We welcome well-designed prospective cohort studies, intervention trials, pooled and harmonized multi-cohort analyses, and high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses that clarify associations between nutrition, lifestyle factors, and cancer incidence, progression, recurrence, and long-term survival. Particular interest lies in studies that apply advanced methods for exposure assessment, biomarker integration, causal inference, and mediation analysis, as well as those that address heterogeneity across populations and cancer types.

Prof. Dr. L. Joseph Su
Guest Editor

Dr. Sithembiso Msibi
Guest Editor Assistant

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 short 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients 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

  • nutritional intervention
  • dietary patterns
  • cancer prevention
  • survivorship care
  • nutrient metabolism
  • malnutrition prevention
  • cancer-related cachexia
  • personalized nutrition

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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24 pages, 1441 KB  
Systematic Review
Effects of Diet and Exercise Lifestyle Interventions on Physical and Psychological Health in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review
by Nuria Asencio-Mas, Maria Martínez-Olcina, Belén Leyva-Vela, Manuel Vicente-Martínez, Yolanda Nadal-Nicolás, Jose Manuel Garcia-De Frutos and Alejandro Martínez-Rodríguez
Nutrients 2026, 18(11), 1815; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18111815 - 4 Jun 2026
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Abstract
Breast cancer survivors frequently experience adverse changes in body composition, cardiometabolic biomarkers, functional capacity and quality of life that may worsen long-term prognosis, yet the comparative effectiveness of lifestyle interventions across delivery formats and supervision levels remains unclear. Background/Objectives: This systematic review assessed [...] Read more.
Breast cancer survivors frequently experience adverse changes in body composition, cardiometabolic biomarkers, functional capacity and quality of life that may worsen long-term prognosis, yet the comparative effectiveness of lifestyle interventions across delivery formats and supervision levels remains unclear. Background/Objectives: This systematic review assessed the effects of structured diet and exercise interventions on body composition, metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers, functional capacity, dietary habits and quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, Cochrane, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published in English between 2016 and 2026. Risk of bias was assessed with RoB 2 and ROBINS-I and certainty of evidence with GRADE. Results: Of 1413 records, 15 studies (11 RCTs; mean age 46–60 years; mostly overweight or obese post-treatment women) met the inclusion criteria; twelve interventions were supervised and three home-based or web-based. Within the assessed domains, many studies reported significant improvements in body composition, quality of life and metabolic or inflammatory biomarkers. Effects were larger in multimodal supervised programs combining caloric restriction with moderate-to-vigorous aerobic plus resistance training (5–8% weight loss; 19–29% visceral fat reduction; improved insulin, IGF-1, leptin, adiponectin and EORTC QLQ-C30 scores), whereas digital or low-intensity interventions produced smaller, less uniform objective effects despite improving dietary behaviors. GRADE certainty ranged from very low to moderate–high. Conclusions: Multimodal supervised programs offer the most robust benefits; digital formats require additional supervision. Standardized protocols and longer follow-up are needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition and Lifestyle in Cancer Care, Prevention and Survivorship)
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