Clinical factors predicting for prolonged enteral supplementation in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with chemoradiation.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to determine the pre-treatment clinical factors associated with prolonged enteral feeding in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with chemoradiation.


METHODS
One hundred and nine patients with stage III-IVB oropharyngeal carcinoma treated with definitive chemoradiation were analyzed. Feeding tube usage was defined as the duration of active usage for nutritional purposes.


RESULTS
Median follow-up was 4.4 years and median feeding tube usage was 2.5 months. On multivariate analysis, increasing duration of feeding tube usage was associated with narcotic use before treatment (p = 0.04), living alone at the time of treatment (p = 0.04), and larger pre-treatment decrease in body-mass index (p = 0.01). Prolonged feeding tube usage was associated with decreased overall survival (p = 0.06) and disease-free survival (p = 0.02) in univariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
By identifying patients at risk for prolonged feeding tube usage, aggressive measures can be attempted to prevent feeding tube dependence.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. jwjang@partners.org
Joanne W
JW
Jang
Ron J
RJ
Parambi
Sean M
SM
McBride
Tessa A
TA
Goldsmith
Allison S
AS
Holman
Annie W
AW
Chan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D060828:Induction Chemotherapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D037981:Neck Dissection; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018529:Nutritional Support; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss
D009294:Narcotics