Severe malnutrition is an independent risk factor for increased postoperative morbidity in cancer surgery patients. Personalized nutrition care (based on nutrition risk category and clinical manifestations) will lead to better outcomes in cancer surgery. Perioperative comprehensive nutrition support has not been effectively integrated into the usual care of oncological patients having surgery, particularly nutritional evaluation is overlooked in those patients. Nutrition care should be personalized based on nutritional risk using assessment tools. An attending surgeon or primary physician can screen and refer the patient to an RD if the patient is found to be at risk of malnutrition to provide a diagnosis in generic terminology. A certain mode of nutrition delivery will be decided based on the patient’s nutrition risk category. Therefore, there is a need for more randomized trials to establish appropriate nutrition for the malnourished in individual cancer types. SOP for nutrition care must be published in every healthcare centre. Patients who received nutrition counselling improved their dietary intake. Apart from providing a high-calorie-protein diet, the nutrition should include micronutrient supplementation, especially vitamins D and B and minerals. Calorie restriction may have a role in cancer, currently
under investigation. Other special supplements are recommended on a case-by-case basis. We recommend further studies on the composition of the postoperative diet in individual cancer types and special dietary requirements to be used as nutritional support in malignancy patients undergoing surgery.