Science-backed nutrition that helps cancer patients stay fit for theRapy
It is common for cancer patients to have planned breaks in their cancer treatment cycle, such as a planned gap between treatment, or a pre-specified intermittent schedule.1
However, there are some occasions where unplanned treatment breaks or disruptions occur, often due to treatment-toxicity, or a concurrent illness that requires treatment to be paused.1
These disruptions often fall into one of 3 categories:2
Dose delay/temporary interruption
Dose reduction
Treatment discontinuation
Toxicity‑related delays, dose reduction or discontinuation can worsen cancer treatment outcomes:
Prolonged
Increased risk of
cancer recurrence4
Limited chances
of survival4
Malnutrition and muscle loss can have a significant impact on cancer treatment
Malnutrition and muscle loss are extremely common in cancer patients, with muscle loss playing a key role in cancer treatment outcomes, including morbidity, mortality, treatment induced toxicity and quality of life.5
Malnutrition and muscle loss are extremely common in people with cancer:
people with advanced cancer
experience muscle loss6
of cancer patients are already
malnourished at diagnosis7
of cancer patients become
malnourished8
Muscle loss can significantly impact cancer treatment, resulting in:9
Chemotherapy toxicity
Tumour progression
Lower likelihood of survival
In certain cancers and cancer treatments:
Malnourished patients have a
2x
increased risk of toxicity-related dose decrease*10
Patients with sarcopenia have a
2x
increased risk of treatment discontinuation^11
Nutritional interventions are a critical part of a successful cancer treatment strategy
Early and regular nutritional assessment/intervention can benefit treatment:
Greater rate of completing
radiotherapy‡‡12
Lower rates of toxicity in patients
who do not have sarcopenia†13
Ensure your cancer patients are fit for Therapy with Ensure Plus Advance
Ensure Plus Advance is a 220 ml, ready to drink ONS. It contains a unique blend of protein, vitamin D and HMB that is proven to protect and preserve muscle mass, strength and function.¶◊#14-16
Ensure Plus Advance contains a unique blend of high protein, HMB and vitamin D:
Protein
Adequate protein intake is essential to help minimise declines in strength and function.17 Protein can also help reduce complications such as infections and can help improve weight.18
HMB
HMB is a metabolite of leucine, a branched-chain essential amino acid exclusively obtained from dietary sources.19
Vitamin D
Vitamin D acts directly on muscle to promote its function through specific vitamin D receptors found on muscle cells20
Ensure Plus Advance has proven results in patients with cancer
Ensure Plus Advance is proven to improve strength and nutritional status in patients with cancer:§21
Handgrip strength
improved by:
Body weight
increased more than:
Reduction in
inflammatory markers:¶¶
It's been shown to support fewer treatment interruptions for cancer patients:§22
Ensure Plus Advance has been shown to significantly reduce healthcare resource use and hospital readmissions:22-25
Reduced hospital stays**
Lower hospital
readmissions§^^
Fewer emergency
department visits§##
Fewer GP visits§##
Support muscle strength in your cancer patients, prescribe Ensure Plus Advance
Ensure Plus Advance is available in 5 delicious flavours and is the most loved high protein ONS.Σ26,27
Try the Ensure Plus Starter Pack. It contains two bottles of the vanilla flavour and one bottle of each of the four other flavours, a downloadable recipe book, and a flavour choice card.
Footnotes:
SC - standard care (no ONS provided)
ONS - Oral nutritional supplements
HMB - ß-hydroxy-ß-methylbutyrate
*In gastrointestinal malignancies
^In women with early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, who were receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy
‡‡92% vs. 50%, P = 0.001
†In one study, dose-limiting toxicity patients with colon cancer with muscle loss (sarcopenia) vs. those without
¶As shown in a randomised control trial to investigate the effects of a specialised ONS on older women (≥65 years) who underwent surgery for hip fracture vs. standard postoperative nutrition. Muscle function was measured by handgrip strength
◊Ensure Plus Advance was shown to preserve muscle mass in elderly patients after hip fracture surgery with rehabilitation, when consumed twice a day for 30 days, as compared to standard care
#Strength was measured by handgrip strength in a post hoc analysis of over 600 malnourished people with heart or lung diseases, age 65 or older. Ensure Plus Advance was consumed twice daily for 90 days
§In a retrospective database review. In a subgroup of cancer patients (n=155) with or at risk of malnutrition receiving Ensure Plus Advance at 2 servings daily combined with dietary counseling and exercise recommendations for 3-6 months as compared to baseline
¶¶CRP/prealbumin ratio change from 0.27 to 0.12 vs. baseline (P < 0.05)
††Odds ratio 0.12, compared with standard ONS. Changes in oncology treatment, p value=0.0128. Cornejo-Pareja I et al., Nutrients, 2025
**Prehabilitation programs, including the use of Ensure Plus Advance have been shown to reduce hospital stay by up to 2.4 days in patients with (colorectal) cancer compared to standard care. A trend was observed (p=0.052) in a randomised clinical study including 20 patients with colorectal cancer under prehabilitation
^^Patients with cancer receiving Ensure Plus Advance with HMB (for 3-6 months) had a 66.1% reduction in hospital admissions compared to patients using standard-ONS over 12 months3
##Compared to other oral nutritional supplements. Comparative figures showed the % difference for those receiving Ensure Plus Advance vs. those receiving other ONS in the 12 months after the intervention
Σ Ensure Plus Advance is the most loved high-protein ONS vs Fortisip Compact Protein and Fresubin PRO COMPACT. Research in healthy adults who were asked to drink comparative flavours of Ensure Plus Advance and Fortisip Compact Protein (243 people; 49% vs 41% respectively “loved the taste”), and of Ensure Plus Advance and Fresubin PRO COMPACT (234 people; 55% vs 45% respectively “loved the taste”). In both studies, participants who gave the overall taste of the drink a 6, 7, 8 or 9 out of 9 (where 1 = I extremely dislike it and 9 = I like it extremely) were directly asked if they “loved the taste”; those who responded lower were assumed as responding no, with that response included in overall reported statistics
References:
- NHS England, 2023. Continuation of funding for systemic anti-cancer therapy following a break in treatment. Available online: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/continuation-of-funding-for-sact-following-a-break-in-treatment/#:~:text=The%20treatment%20break%20policy%20supports,guidance%20and%20current%20clinical%20evidence. Last accessed December 2025
- Kok DE et al. Eur J Cancer 2018;104:145-150
- Neilson CM et al.Oncologist 2021;26(6):e1050‑e1059
- Yin J et al. Adv Radiat Oncol 2025;10(6):101784
- Aprile G et al. Nutrients 2021;12(4):1196
- Biswas AK & Acharyya S. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2020;10:a037416
- Garcia-Malpartida K et al. Nutrients 2023;15:1776
- Pradeep R et al. J Clin Oncol 2024;42(23 Suppl). doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2024.42.23_suppl.189
- Mialich MS et al. Discover Oncol 2025;16:247
- Klute KA et al. Eur J Cancer 2016;63:189-200
- Saraf A et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2024;118(1):94-103
- Odelli C et al. Clin Oncol 2005;17:639-645
- Prado CM et al. Proc Nutr Soc 2016;75:188-198
- Malafarina V et al. Maturitas 2017;101:42-50
- Matheson EM et al. Clin Nutr 2021;40(3):844-849
- Ekinci O et al. Nutr Clin Pract 2016;31(6):829-835
- Deutz NE et al. Clin Nutr 2014;33(6):929-936
- Cawood AL et al. Ageing Res Rev 2012;11(2):278-296
- Wilson GJ et al. Nutr Metab 2008;5:1
- Wagatsuma A. and Sakuma K. Biomed Res Int 2014;2014:121254
- Cornejo-Pareja I et al. Nutrients 2021;13:4355
- Cornejo-Pareja I et al. Nutrients 2025;17:2854
- Frishman S et al. Clin Nutr 2025;17:3511
- Lopez-Rodriguez-Arias F et al. Supp Care in Cancer 2021;29:7785-7791
- Abbott Nutrition. Data on file, 2025. Based on a post hoc analysis of Cornejo-Pareja I et al. Nutrients 2025;17:2854
- Data on file. Abbott Laboratories Ltd, 2024 (Ensure Plus Advance vs Fresubin PRO COMPACT preference test)
- Data on file. Abbott Laboratories Ltd, 2023 (Ensure Plus Advance acceptability and compliance vs Fortisip Compact Protein)
