Eating ability in head and neck cancer patients after treatment with chemoradiation: a 12-month follow-up study accounting for dropout.
BACKGROUND
Head and neck cancer patients treated with chemoradiation have difficulty eating a normal diet. This study was designed to characterize eating ability over 12 months after chemoradiation treatment. Analyses take patient dropout into account.


METHODS
Two hundred fifty-five patients with head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiation were followed for 12 months. Eating ability was analyzed using generalized linear model methods that accounted for non-ignorable dropout.


RESULTS
Eating ability was compromised immediately after treatment and improved over 12 months to near pretreatment levels. Ability to eat at most 50% of the diet orally did not return to baseline levels (p <.05). However, the percent of patients eating a normal diet did return to baseline levels. Accounting for dropout modified the results, but the pattern of significance was similar.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment of head and neck cancer with chemoradiation has a significant effect on eating ability, which improves after 12 months after treatment.
Rademaker
Alfred W
AW
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, Suite 1102, 680 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. rademaker@northwestern.edu
Vonesh
Edward F
EF
Logemann
Jeri A
JA
Pauloski
Barbara Roa
BR
Liu
Dachao
D
Lazarus
Cathy L
CL
Newman
Lisa A
LA
May
Annette Hamner
AH
MacCracken
Ellen
E
Gaziano
Joy
J
Stachowiak
Linda
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors