Nutrition and Its Impact on Quality of Life in Patients with Brain Tumors: A Scoping Review

TL;DR

This review explores how nutrition affects quality of life in brain tumor patients, finding limited but encouraging evidence, especially with ketogenic diets.

Contribution

The study provides a scoping review of nutritional interventions and their impact on quality of life in brain tumor patients, highlighting gaps in current research.

Findings

Nine studies on ketogenic diets showed mixed but mostly positive effects on quality of life.

Only six studies reported positive effects, while three found no significant impact.

Research is limited by small sample sizes and lack of standardized tools.

Abstract

Nutrition plays a key role in quality of life; however, there is limited existing literature regarding the benefits of specific nutritional interventions on the quality of life in patients with brain tumors. The aim of this scoping review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the original studies exploring nutrition and its impact on the quality of life in patients with brain tumors. The existing literature on this topic is limited, and universal conclusions regarding quality of life are limited due to small sample sizes, the lack of control subjects, and the utilization of self-reporting rather than standardized assessment tools. We highlight areas in need of further exploration to help aid in designing future studies on this topic, in hopes of yielding results that may benefit or improve the quality of life in this patient population.

Background/Objective: Nutrition plays a significant role in quality of life (QoL); however, information regarding the effects of nutritional interventions for brain tumors patients is limited. The objective of this scoping review is to analyze existing literature on nutrition and its impact on QoL in brain tumor patients. Methods: Using the PubMed database in July 2025, this scoping review identified original studies written in English using the keywords: nutrition, brain cancer, QoL, and diet. Using the ChatGPT5 prompts: “I’m looking for journal articles and clinical trials with brain cancer, nutrition, quality of life” in July 2025 and “I’m looking for research articles assessing quality of life in brain tumor patients on ketogenic diet” in December 2025, additional articles were identified. Studies investigating the implementation of nutritional interventions (specific diets, supplements) and effects on QoL in brain tumor patients of all ages were included. Reviews were not included, but original articles cited within the reviews were. Articles were reviewed by the authors for selection, and a total of twelve articles pertaining to eleven studies were identified. Results: Nine studies focused on the utilization of ketogenic diets (KD). One study pertained to protein supplementation, and another study discussed enteral and parental nutrition. Six studies reported positive effects on QoL, three reported no statistical significance, and one study reported a negative effect. One study had mixed results of a positive effect in one area and no statistical significance effects in another. Universal conclusions on QoL were limited since many studies had small sample sizes, lacked control subjects, and utilized self-reporting rather than standardized assessment tools. Conclusions: This review revealed that the evidence regarding the effect of KD on QoL in brain tumor patients is encouraging but limited. Data regarding the impact of other dietary interventions is insufficient to draw conclusions. Additional research is necessary. Future studies should consider (1) increasing recruitment to yield larger sample sizes, (2) standardizing nutritional interventions, (3) utilizing control subjects, and (4) utilizing standardized assessment tools.

Figures