Methodological quality of research on perioperative immunomodulatory supplementation in oncological gastrointestinal tract surgery: a meta-research protocol.

Introduction: One of the topics that show differences of opinion in the scientific field of nutrition is the recommendation by clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) of an immunomodulatory diet with arginine, nucleotides and omega-3 for individuals diagnosed with cancer undergoing major surgery. The quality of the recommendations is directly related to credibility, transparency and rigour in their development, but also to the quality of the studies published and available for inclusion in the recommendation, such as systematic reviews (SRs) and randomised clinical trials. The aim of this study is to evaluate the methodological quality of the recommendation of perioperative immunomodulatory supplementation for individuals with gastrointestinal and head and neck cancer, the CPGs, and the studies that support the recommendations.

Variation observed in consensus judgments between pairs of reviewers when assessing the risk of bias due to missing evidence in a sample of published meta-analyses of nutrition research.

Objectives: To evaluate the risk of bias due to missing evidence in a sample of published meta-analyses of nutrition research using the Risk Of Bias due to Missing Evidence (ROB-ME) tool and determine inter-rater agreement in assessments.

Study Design And Setting: We assembled a random sample of 42 meta-analyses of nutrition research. Eight assessors were randomly assigned to one of four pairs.

Credibility at stake: only two-thirds of randomized trials of nutrition interventions are registered and lack transparency in outcome and treatment effect definitions.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the adherence of randomized controlled trials of nutrition interventions to transparency practices informing assessments of selective reporting biases, including the availability of a trial registration entry, protocol and statistical analysis plan (SAP).

Study Design And Setting: Retrospective observational study with cross-sectional design. We systematically searched for trials published from 1 July 2019, to 30 June 2020, and included a randomly selected sample of 400 studies.

Effect of oral nutritional supplements with or without nutritional counselling on mortality, treatment tolerance and quality of life in head-and-neck cancer patients receiving (chemo)radiotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Oral nutritional supplements are widely recommended to head-and-neck cancer patients undergoing anti-cancer treatment; however, their effects on the outcomes of most importance to patients are unclear. This study aimed to systematically review the evidence of effect of oral nutritional supplements on mortality, treatment tolerance, quality of life, functional status, body weight and adverse effects. We searched PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, LILACS, Web of Science, CINAHL, two trial registry platforms, three sources of grey literature and reference lists of included studies.