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Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative care is indicated for all patients with a life-threatening disease and its approach should be performed from the diagnosis of the disease, regardless of prognosis or age. Objective: to review publications and find out when to offer nutrition to the cancer patient at the end of life brings benefits or discomfort to the patient. Methods: This is an integrative review and the guiding question was: “How long should the cancer patient be nurtured in palliative care? ”. Data were collected in the Lilacs, PubMed and Scielo databases. The terms used were: palliative care, nutrition, cancer and end of life. In addition to its translations into English and Spanish. Results: After searching the databases with the indexed words, 112 articles were found, but only 5 articles answered the question and were included in the sample. Conclusion: Nutritional therapy in palliative care must consider much more than just the supply of food and calories, it must consider the social, cultural, emotional and religious factors involved.