ArticleEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2021
Early versus conventional nutritional intervention in head and neck cancer patients before radiotherapy: benefits of a fast-track circuit.
Article in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- High-protein oral nutritional supplement use in patients with cancer reduces complications and length of hospital stay: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Nutrition Services in Oncology: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Patient Experiences, Needs, and Gaps in Care.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- The association between body mass index and efficacy of pembrolizumab as second-line therapy in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Oncology-Led Early Identification of Nutritional Risk: A Pragmatic, Evidence-Based Protocol (PRONTO).Cancers · 2023Article
- Variation in Body Mass and Skeletal Muscle Indices in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing (Chemo)Radiotherapy and Nutritional Intervention.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Article
- Nutritional Deficiencies in Radiotherapy-Treated Head and Neck Cancer Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- The Effects of Early Nutritional Intervention on Oral Mucositis and Nutritional Status of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Treated With Radiotherapy.Frontiers in oncology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesRadiotherapy (RT) is a component of therapy for head and neck cancer (HNC) with a negative nutritional impact. Our aim was to compare an early versus a conventional nutritional intervention. SUBJECTS AND
methodsRetrospective study of HNC patients undergoing RT. Evolution before and after the establishment of a fast-track circuit was evaluated. A conventional group (CG) made up of patients submitted to the nutrition unit during RT after nutritional deterioration, was compared to an early group (EG) represented by patients included in a fast-track circuit, starting nutritional follow-up before the beginning of RT. Only patients with preserved oral intake were involved. Demographic, nutritional and clinical variables were analyzed. Data of hospitalizations and deaths were collected up to three months after RT.
results135 subjects constituted the EG and 39 the CG. At baseline, the prevalence of malnutrition was lower in the EG (31.9% vs 69.5%, p = 0.0001), as was the need for nutritional supplements (40% vs 79.5%, p = 0.0001) or nasogastric tube (0% vs 12.8%, p = 0.0001) in comparison to the CG. Three months after RT, there were less patients with oral nutritional support in the EG (79.1% vs 96.9%, p = 0.018), and the number of emergency visits (0.75 vs 1.1 episodes per patient, p = 0.021) and hospitalizations was also lower in this group (29% vs 59%, p = 0.044).
conclusionsThe fast-track approach made early intervention possible. Therefore, patients maintained a better nutritional status, needed less nutritional support and their evolution improved, with a significant decrease in hospitalizations.
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