The Los Angeles Cancer Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles has a Medical Nutrition Therapy Program to ensure customized nutritional guidance for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer.

"The benefits of nutritional oncology for cancer patients are immeasurable and studies have shown that it is directly related to an increase in overall survival rates," said Mei-lene Mak, R.D., nutrition care coordinator for the program. The program, she added, emphasizes the significant correlation between proper diet and good health.

The program includes teaching good eating habits, evaluation for dietary imbalance, evaluation for supplements, a low cholesterol diet, a weight loss program, and an 1,800-calorie Diabetic diet.

"We are seeing patients who desperately need customized nutritional plans to complement their treatments and overall lifestyles," said Armand Bouzaglou, M.D., F.A.C.R., medical director of the institute.

For more information, call the Los Angeles Cancer Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center at (213) 484-7577.