Abstract

Gastric cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality, with surgical resection, total or subtotal gastrectomy, serving as the primary curative treatment modality. However, this anatomical disruption introduces profound metabolic alterations that severely jeopardize patient nutritional status, leading to post-gastrectomy malnutrition, sarcopenia, and refractory cancer cachexia. Oncology nurses are uniquely positioned at the front lines of patient care to alter this trajectory. This narrative review highlights the expanded, leading role of oncology nursing in the perioperative continuum. By synthesizing evidence on advanced nutritional screening tools, examining the clinical administration of early enteral nutrition (EN), and delineating nurse-led multidisciplinary coordination, this paper underscores how structural nursing implications, aggressive patient advocacy, and proactive clinical management directly mitigate complications, enhance treatment tolerance, and optimize quality of life in gastric cancer survivors.

Keywords:Gastric cancer; Gastrectomy; Enteral nutrition; Nutritional screening; Oncology nurse