A Retrospective Study of G-Tube Use in Japanese Patients Treated with Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Hypopharyngeal Cancer

Predictors of the need for prophylactic percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in head and neck cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy

BACKGROUND

We investigated whether prophylactic percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is used effectively for patients treated with definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and the predictors of the need for PEG.

METHODS

326 patients with laryngeal, oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancers were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

The PEG tube use group had more favorable results than the total parenteral nutrition and nasogastric tube groups in terms of rate of serum albumin loss, incidence of severe fever and aspiration pneumonia, CCRT completion rate and hospitalization period. However, it was inferior to oral intake. Analysis of the relative risk of requiring enteral or parenteral nutrition revealed that performance status (PS) 2, primary site (supraglottis, oropharynx, or hypopharynx), N3 disease, and cisplatin were predictors of the need for nutritional support.

CONCLUSIONS

Prophylactic PEG is effective for patients treated with definitive CCRT and is especially required for patients with PS2 or oropharyngeal cancer.

Efficacy and Safety of Intro-Arterial Chemotherapy Combined with Radiotherapy on Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: Intro-arterial chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy (IACRT) for the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) underwent a revival in recent years. Although many clinical trials have reported favorable outcomes, the effect of IACRT for HNC is still controversial. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IACRT for HNC.

Methods: The relevant articles published before August 2019 were searched from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and PMC databases. Data were extracted and the combined complete response (CR), overall survival (OS) and toxicity incidence with 95% credible interval (CI) were examined from eligible studies.

Results: Thirty-four studies comprising 1890 patients were included. IACRT achieved high CR (0.81, 95% CI: 0.76-0.86, P < 0.001), 3-year OS (0.75, 95% CI: 0.68-0.82, P < 0.001) and 5-year OS (0.68, 95% CI: 0.61-0.75, P < 0.001). The 3-year OS rate of stage III cancer (0.75, 95% CI: 0.53-0.97, P< 0.001) was higher than stage IV (0.52, 95% CI: 0.37-0.66, P = 0.025). Meanwhile, the 5-year OS of T3 cancer (0.87, 95% CI: 0.73-1.01, P = 0.028) was higher than T4 (0.53, 95% CI: 0.42-0.63, P = 0.286). Additionally, oral diseases, mucositis, leukopenia and dermatitis were the major toxicities of IACRT, which were all reversible.

Conclusion: IACRT is an efficient and safe modality for HNC, which could achieve favorable cancer response and higher survival rate with acceptable toxicities, even for advanced HNC.