Elham Safari - Student Research committee, School Of Nursery and Midwifery, Mashhad Islamic Azad University, Mashhad,Iran.
Zahra Sharifi - Faculty Member of Mashhad Islamic Azad University, Coach of Mashhad school Of Nursery and Midwifery,Mashhad, Iran.
Elahe Safari - Student Research committee, School Of Nursery and Midwifery, Mashhad Islamic Azad University, Mashhad,Iran.

Background:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in men and the second most common cancer in women, with a mortality rate near 50%, which often occurring at the age of 50 years. Using copper and zinc are an essential antioxidant that may lead to disease such as CRC. Studies showed that some of the factors such as pain and psychological changes could decrease the quality of life of patients with cancer. According to studies that zinc supplements can improve their quality of life, the aim of this study is to investigating the effect of zinc supplementation in patients with colorectal cancer. Method: This review article was performed within articles published at PubMed, Science direct, Google Scholar, and SID from 2000 to 2019. The keywords were colorectal cancer, zinc supplement and quality of life. By searching this database, 45 articles were found, 20 of them were not related with investigating and 10 of them by reading abstract were removed. Findings:Finally 10 articles were included in the study, in one study that performed in three groups of rats treated with vitamin C, aspirin and zinc supplement showed that zinc reduced the risk of colon cancer and also increased the susceptibility of cells to apoptosis. In another study of patients undergoing chemotherapy for colorectal adenocarcinoma, one group received zinc supplement and the other group received placebo for 16weeks post operatively until the fourth cycle of chemotherapy, the results expressed that zinc supplement, was prevent fatigue and improving the quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Also in one article that examined the association between antioxidant supplement such as vitamin C, E, selenium, zinc and quality of life of CRC patients, they found no benefit of antioxidant use in these subjects. Conclusion:It seems that zinc supplement can improve the quality of life in patient with colorectal cancer but there isn’t definitive evidence yet, therefore need to be more research done at this topic.

Colorectal cancer, Zinc supplement, Quality of life