Table 4. Characteristics of the studies for omega-3 fatty acid supplementation through enteral nutrition support.
| Author/Year/Country | Study design | Participants | Control treatment, No. of subjects (M, F) | Intervention, No. of subjects (M, F) | Duration of the intervention | Outcomes of interest | Risk of bias* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abe et al. [40]/2018/Japan | Single-arm intervention | • Patients with pancreatic and bile duct cancer who underwent chemotherapy | n = 27 (16 M, 11 F) | 8 wk | • Skeletal muscle mass | Moderate | |
| • Average BMI range: 25.9 kg/m2 | Racol®, an enteral nutrient formulated with omega-3 (2–4 packs/200 kcal/300 mg of omega-3 fatty acids per pack) | ||||||
| Van der Meij et al. [38]/2012/The Netherland | RCT-parallel, double blind | • Patients with non-small cell lung cancer aged 18–80 yr | n = 20 (5 M, 15 F) | n = 20 (16 M, 4 F) | 5 wk | • Handgrip strength | Some concerns |
| • Average BMI range: 23.0-24.8 kg/m2 | Two packages per day of an iso-caloric control oral nutritional supplement (Ensure, Control) | Omega-3 (2.02 g EPA, 0.92 g DHA) added in same volume nutritional supplement (ProSure, Intervention) with control group | |||||
| Ryan et al. [37]/2009/Ireland | RCT-parallel | • Patients with esophageal cancer | n = 25 (M:F = 14:1) | n = 28 (M:F = 24:4) | 3 wk | • Lean body mass | Some concerns |
| • Average BMI range: 24.6-27.1 kg/m2 | Iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous standard nutritional feed without EPA | Omega-3 (EPA 2.2 g/d + Enteral feed) | |||||
| Bauer et al. [39]/2005/Australia | Single-arm intervention | • Patients with pancreatic cancer, or non-small cell lung cancer | n = 7 (5 M, 2 F) | 8 wk | • Lean body mass | Moderate | |
| • Average BMI range: 26.8 kg/m2 | 16 g protein and 1.1 g EPA, as enriched oral nutritional supplement |
RCT, randomized controlled trial; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; BMI, body mass index.
*Risk of bias was assessed using a revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (ROB2) for RCT studies and using a “risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) for single-arm interventional studies.