Significant improvements have been achieved in the treatment of patients with cancer. Nevertheless, major issues remain poorly addressed, which may contribute to the current lack of robust evidence showing improved quality of life in patients receiving anti-cancer therapies. Malnutrition is a frequent, yet preventable and curable, comorbidity of cancer progression which impinges on quality of life and worsens clinical outcomes. Emerging evidence from large epidemiological studies are now showing that nutritional support, when timely delivered as part of a multidisciplinary intervention, improves nutritional status and clinical outcomes. Many international scientific societies, including ESPEN, ASPEN, ESMO and ASCO, published guidelines on nutritional support, strengthening the role of nutrition in the management of patients with cancer.

Malnutrition is a global problem in patients with active and especially advanced cancer and impacting on overall survival. Inappropriately, malnutrition today in many settings and in most places surveyed is underdiagnosed and undertreated. One reason is lack of dedicated nutrition education in medical schools and lack of universal screening protocols. While malnutrition endangers strength, daily activities, quality of life, immune competence and response as well as tolerance to anticancer therapies, recently published ESMO guidelines on cancer cachexia recommend nutritional interventions to include provision of adequate energy and nutrients, especially proteins; to improve anabolism, stimulation of muscle training should accompany all nutritional interventions. The ESMO guidelines focus on establishing standard nutrition procedures, adapting treatment to cachexia stage and highlighting the requirement for multi-professional care.

Clinical practice guidelines provide interface between research and practice, pointing the way to higher quality, evidence-based, and more cost-effective care. The guidelines inform practice, unify and standardize the way patient care is delivered, and ensure successful outcomes. Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) on cancer cachexia has been designed for medical oncologists. However, the appropriate care of malnutrition, cancer cachexia and nutrition related problems is a multidisciplinary challenge and to change the current practice it is important to involve all professionals. The interprofessional collaboration is a key practice for providing nutrition care. Strategies to improve interprofessional practice has potential to improve patients functional status, professionals' adherence to recommended practices, and the use of healthcare resources.