Nutritional status--a prognostic indicator in head and neck cancer.

A prospective study into the nutritional status of 114 patients with untreated primary squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was undertaken to assess its possible prognostic value for survival. Nutritional status was evaluated by anthropometry, creatinine height index estimation, serum albumin and transferrin assays, and nitrogen balance studies. Weight change and other anthropometric indices found to be the most reliable nutritional parameters were averaged to derive a clinically useful, general nutritional status score. A nutritional deficit was found in 43 of the 114 patients (37.7%) and was associated with neoplasms of the upper gastrointestinal tract in more than 80% of the patients. Life table analysis showed a statistically very highly significant difference between the survival of the adequately nourished patients (57.5% at 2 years) and the survival of the undernourished patients (7.5% at 2 years) (chi 2 = 36.08; P = .0). These results indicate that nutritional deficiency is an important adverse prognostic factor in head and neck cancer. Undernutrition probably exerts its effect, at least in part, by causing secondary immunologic dysfunction.