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Feeding tube use in patients with head and neck cancer
Sherri L Lewis1, Rebecca Brody, Riva Touger-Decker
1James A. Haley Veteran's Affairs Hospital, Tampa, Florida; University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey.
Background:
Use of a prophylactic feeding tube before concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy (CRT) for patients with head and neck cancer is often debated.
Methods:
A retrospective, exploratory study of 109 veterans with stage III/IV head and neck cancer who completed standard CRT was conducted. Relationships among 3 feeding tube status groups: prophylactic feeding tube (PFT), reactive feeding tube (RFT), and no feeding tube (no-FT) were compared for clinical outcomes.
Results:
Patients with a PFT had significantly less weight loss during CRT, fewer nutrition-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations, and higher proportions of chemotherapy cycles completed compared to those with an RFT or no-FT. At 12 months post-CRT, there was no relationship between the use of a PFT and 100% feeding tube dependency.
Conclusion:
Use of a PFT in this veteran population with stage III/IV head and neck cancer produced better outcomes when compared to both an RFT or no feeding tube without higher rates of long-term dysphagia.
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