Feeding Tube Utilization in Patients with Salivary Gland Malignancies

Objectives To evaluate feeding tube utilization in patients with salivary gland malignancies (SGMs). Study Design Case series with planned data collection. Setting The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Subjects and Methods Patients (N = 287) were sampled from an epidemiologic SGM registry during a 12-year period. Feeding tube history was retrospectively reviewed. Patients with outside locoregional therapy or palliative treatment were excluded. Enteral feeding and length of dependence were analyzed as a function treatment modality and site of SGM. Results Of 287 patients, 79 (28%) required temporary nasogastric tube feeding (median duration: 13 days, interquartile range: 6-21). Among those 79, 30 (10% of total cohort) required conversion to percutaneous gastrostomy tube (G-tube). Median G-tube duration was 4.8 months (interquartile range: 3.7-13.1). G-tube placement was necessary only in patients receiving multimodality therapy ( P < .001), and among those, 50% with SGMs arising from pharyngeal/laryngeal sites required G-tube, as compared with 8% to 19% of SGMs arising from all other sites ( P < .01). At a median follow-up of 2.4 years, 9 (3%) of all SGM patients were G-tube dependent, but 14% (3 of 22) with laryngeal/pharyngeal sites treated with multimodality therapy remained chronically G-tube dependent. Conclusion While almost 30% of SGM survivors require a temporary nasogastric tube, G-tube utilization is uncommon, in roughly 10% of SGM overall. G-tube utilization appears exclusive to patients treated with multimodality therapy, and chronic gastrostomy remains high (14%) in patients with minor gland cancers arising in the pharynx/larynx, suggesting impetus for dysphagia prophylaxis in these higher-risk subsets, similar to patients treated for squamous cancers.