Background: Concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) produces severe mucositis and swallowing dysfunction, often resulting in malnutrition. Intensive nutrition support (INS) in addition to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is reported to decrease adverse effects during CCRT.
Patients and methods: Fifty-eight patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated by CDDP-based CCRT were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-nine patients treated with INS in addition to PEG were classified as INS group, and other 29 patients treated with PEG but without INS were classified as control group.
Results: INS in addition to PEG significantly increased calorie intake in the second half of CCRT and reduced adverse events including mucositis (p = 0.0019), leukopenia (p = 0.04), and renal function (p = 0.006). Moreover, 21 out of 29 patients had successfully administration of 200 mg/m2 or more of CDDP, while only 10 out of 29 patients had enough amount of CDDP in control group.
Conclusions: These results suggest that INS in addition to prophylactic PEG not only decreases adverse effects but also may potentially improve oncological outcome of the patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated by CCRT.
Keywords: Chemoradiotherapy; Intensive nutrition support; Oropharyngeal cancer; Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.