Objectives We aimed (1) to assess the nutritional status (NS) using different methods, according to the primary tumour site and (2) to evaluate the performance of these methods in patients with incurable cancer from a reference centre in Brazil.

Methods Cross-sectional analysis of data from patients admitted to the palliative care unit of a reference cancer centre in Brazil, between July 2016 and March 2020. The primary tumour site was the independent variable and the NS using different methods were the dependent variables. Logistic regressions were performed.

Results A total of 2,144 patients were included in the study. The most common primary tumour site was the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract (18.0%), followed by gynaecological (17.6%) and head and neck (HN) (13.5%). Our results showed that patients with tumours of the upper GI tract followed by HN presented significantly higher risk of worse NS. In contrast, breast tumours, bone and connective tissues and melanoma presented inverse association. The gynaecological cancer was variably associated with nutritional impairment, according to the assessment method.

Conclusions Patients with incurable cancer present high prevalence of NS impairment, depending on the tumour site, shown to be elevated in patients with tumour in the upper GI tract.