AIM: To identify risk factors that influence weight loss in patients receiving radiotherapy. BACKGROUND: It is a well-known fact that cancer patients can be affected by malnutrition at the onset of the disease and during treatment due to the toxicity. Pretreatment weight loss alone does not predict those who will need nutritional supplementation. Instead, a variety of nutritional and tumor related factors needs to be taken into account. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 129 patients with different tumor locations. Weight loss was evaluated during radiotherapy and one month after treatment. The impact of age, ECOG, chemotherapy, pretreatment weight loss, tumor location, previous surgery and TNM were analyzed. We aimed to identify a high-risk group of patients before starting treatment. RESULTS: The average net weight loss during radiotherapy and one month after treatment for this group of patients was 0.68 kg and 1.6 kg, respectively. Median weight loss during radiotherapy was 2.6 kg for head and neck (HN) patients and 0.27 kg for other tumor sites (p = 0.028). Median weight loss one month after radiotherapy was 3.7 kg for HN patients and 1.1 kg for the rest of the patients (p = 0.034). The median weight loss one month after treatment was 3.2 kg for patients receiving chemotherapy and 0.5 kg for those patients who did not receive chemotherapy (p < 0.001). A regression analysis determined that HN tumor location and the use of chemotherapy were independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional status must be monitored and managed before, during and after treatment. A variety of nutritional and tumor-related factors must be considered. According to our results, head and neck tumors and the use of chemotherapy are the only two factors considered statistically significant. Because patients continue to lose weight after treatment, we recommend close surveillance after radiotherapy.
AIM: To identify risk factors that influence weight loss in patients receiving radiotherapy. BACKGROUND: It is a well-known fact that cancerpatients can be affected by malnutrition at the onset of the disease and during treatment due to the toxicity. Pretreatment weight loss alone does not predict those who will need nutritional supplementation. Instead, a variety of nutritional and tumor related factors needs to be taken into account. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 129 patients with different tumor locations. Weight loss was evaluated during radiotherapy and one month after treatment. The impact of age, ECOG, chemotherapy, pretreatment weight loss, tumor location, previous surgery and TNM were analyzed. We aimed to identify a high-risk group of patients before starting treatment. RESULTS: The average net weight loss during radiotherapy and one month after treatment for this group of patients was 0.68 kg and 1.6 kg, respectively. Median weight loss during radiotherapy was 2.6 kg for head and neck (HN) patients and 0.27 kg for other tumor sites (p = 0.028). Median weight loss one month after radiotherapy was 3.7 kg for HN patients and 1.1 kg for the rest of the patients (p = 0.034). The median weight loss one month after treatment was 3.2 kg for patients receiving chemotherapy and 0.5 kg for those patients who did not receive chemotherapy (p < 0.001). A regression analysis determined that HN tumor location and the use of chemotherapy were independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional status must be monitored and managed before, during and after treatment. A variety of nutritional and tumor-related factors must be considered. According to our results, head and neck tumors and the use of chemotherapy are the only two factors considered statistically significant. Because patients continue to lose weight after treatment, we recommend close surveillance after radiotherapy.
Entities:
Keywords:
Nutrition; Radiotherapy; Risk factor; Weight loss
Authors: Andy Trotti; Lisa A Bellm; Joel B Epstein; Diana Frame; Henry J Fuchs; Clement K Gwede; Eugene Komaroff; Luba Nalysnyk; Marya D Zilberberg Journal: Radiother Oncol Date: 2003-03 Impact factor: 6.280
Authors: M M Marín Caro; C Gómez Candela; R Castillo Rabaneda; T Lourenço Nogueira; M García Huerta; V Loria Kohen; M Villarino Sanz; P Zamora Auñón; L Luengo Pérez; P Robledo Sáenz; C López-Portabella; A Zarazaga Monzón; J Espinosa Rojas; Raquel Nogués Boqueras; L Rodríguez Suárez; S Celaya Pérez; J Pardo Masferrer Journal: Nutr Hosp Date: 2008 Sep-Oct Impact factor: 1.057
Authors: Jon Cacicedo; Francisco Casquero; Lorea Martinez-Indart; Olga del Hoyo; Alfonso Gomez de Iturriaga; Arturo Navarro; Pedro Bilbao Journal: Chin J Cancer Date: 2013-10-09