Pretreatment predictive factors for feasibility of oral intake in adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND

Prophylactic percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has been widely performed before concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LASCCHN) because severe oral mucositis and dysphagia induced by CCRT lead to difficulty with oral intake. However, it is controversial whether all patients require prophylactic PEG for adjuvant CCRT. This study evaluated predictive factors for the feasibility of oral intake in adjuvant CCRT for patients with LASCCHN.

METHODS

This study retrospectively analyzed 117 LASCCHN patients who underwent surgery followed by adjuvant CCRT with cisplatin at Shizuoka Cancer Center between April 2008 and December 2018. To investigate predictive factors for the feasibility of oral intake, tumor factors, treatment factors and social factors were included in multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

Of the 117 patients, 25 received total laryngectomy and 92 received other surgery. In multivariate analysis, total laryngectomy [HR (hazard ratio) 0.09, P = 0.001] and oral cavity of primary tumor location (HR 0.21, P = 0.031) were significantly associated with the feasibility of oral intake. Difficulty obtaining adequate nutrition via oral intake from initiation of CCRT until 1 year after its completion was significantly rarer in the total laryngectomy group than in the other surgery group (16% vs. 57%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that majority of patients who underwent total laryngectomy are able to maintain oral intake during adjuvant chemoradiotherapy.