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Chemoradiotherapy with IMRT aiming to reduce dysphagia can be performed safely for OPC and has high locoregional tumor control rates. On average, long-term patient-reported, observer-rated, and objective measures of swallowing were only slightly worse than pretherapy measures, representing potential improvement compared with previous studies.

Purpose Assess dosimetric correlates of long-term dysphagia after chemo-IMRT of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) sparing parts of the swallowing organs. Patients and Methods Prospective longitudinal study: weekly chemotherapy concurrent with IMRT for stages III/IV OPC, aiming to reduce dysphagia by sparing non-involved parts of swallowing-related organs: pharyngeal constrictors (PC), glottic and supraglottic larynx (GSL), and esophagus, as well as oral cavity and major salivary glands. Dysphagia outcomes included patient-reported Swallowing and Eating Domain scores, Observer-based (CTCAEv.2) dysphagia, and videofluoroscopy (VF), before and periodically after therapy through 2 years. Relationships between dosimetric factors and worsening (from baseline) of dysphagia through 2 years were assessed by linear mixed-effects model. Results 73 patients participated. Observer-based dysphagia was not modeled because at >6 months there were only four grade ≥2 cases (one of whom feeding-tube dependent). PC, GSL, and esophagus mean doses, as well as their partial volume doses (VDs), were each significantly correlated with all dysphagia outcomes. However, the VDs for each organ inter-correlated and also highly correlated with the mean doses, leaving only mean doses significant. Mean doses to each of the parts of the PCs (superior, middle and inferior) were also significantly correlated with all dysphagia measures, with superior PCs demonstrating highest correlations. For VF-based strictures, most significant predictor was esophageal mean doses (48±17 Gy in patients with, vs 27±12 in patients without strictures, p=0.004). Normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCPs) increased moderately with mean doses without any threshold. For increased VF-based aspirations or worsened VF summary scores, TD50 and TD25 were 63Gy and 56Gy for PC, and 56Gy and 39Gy for GSL, respectively. For both PC and GSL, patient-reported swallowing TDs were substantially higher than VF-based TDs. Conclusions Swallowing organs mean doses correlated significantly with long-term worsening of swallowing. Different methods assessing dysphagia resulted in different NTCPs, and none demonstrated a threshold.

Purpose After conventional radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, xerostomia has traditionally been the major effector of patient-reported quality of life (QOL), and recent publications suggest that dysphagia has an even stronger effect. We hypothesized that IMRT aiming to spare the salivary glands and swallowing structures reduced, or eliminated, the effects of these toxicities on QOL. Methods and Materials Prospective longitudinal study: 72 patients with Stage III-IV oropharyngeal cancer treated uniformly with definitive chemo-IMRT sparing the salivary glands and swallowing structures. Overall QOL was assessed by summary scores of the Head Neck QOL (HNQOL) and University of Washington QOL (UWQOL) questionnaires, as well as HNQOL “Overall Bother” question. QOL, observer-rated toxicities (CTCAE v2), and objective evaluations (videofluoroscopy assessing dysphagia and saliva flow rates assessing xerostomia) were recorded pre-therapy through 2 years post-therapy. Correlations between toxicities/objective evaluations and overall QOL were assessed using longitudinal repeated measures of analysis and Pearson correlations. Results All observer-rated toxicities and QOL scores worsened 1-3 months after therapy and improved through 12 months, with minor further improvements through 24 months. At 12 months, dysphagia grades 0-1, 2, and 3, were observed in 95%, 4%, and 1% of patients, respectively. Using all post-therapy observations, observer-rated dysphagia was highly correlated with all overall QOL measures (p<0.0001), while xerostomia, mucosal, and voice toxicities were significantly correlated with some, but not all, overall QOL measures, with lower correlation coefficients than dysphagia. Late overall QOL (≥6 or ≥12 months post-therapy) was primarily associated with observer-rated dysphagia, and to a lesser extent with xerostomia. Videofluoroscopy scores, but not salivary flows, were significantly correlated with some of the overall QOL measures. Conclusion After chemo-IMRT, while late dysphagia was on average mild, it was still the major correlate of QOL. Further efforts to reduce swallowing dysfunction are likely to yield additional gains in QOL.

Free vascularized tissue reinforcement of primary pharyngeal closure in salvage laryngectomy following failed organ preservation is effective in preventing major wound complications but did not reduce the overall fistula rate. Fistulas that developed following this technique were relatively small, did not result in exposed major vessels, and were effectively treated with outpatient wound care rather than readmission to the hospital or return to operating room. Speech and swallowing results following this technique were comparable to those following total laryngectomy alone.

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Background The purpose of this study was to assess aspiration pneumonia (AsPn) rates and predictors after chemo-irradiation for head and neck cancer. Methods The was a prospective study of 72 patients with stage III to IV oropharyngeal cancer treated definitively with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) concurrent with weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel. AsPn was recorded prospectively and dysphagia was evaluated longitudinally through 2 years posttherapy by observer-rated (Common Toxicity Criteria version [CTCAE]) scores, patient-reported scores, and videofluoroscopy. Results Sixteen patients (20%) developed AsPn. Predictive factors included T classification (p = .01), aspiration detected on videofluoroscopy (videofluoroscopy-asp; p = .0007), and patient-reported dysphagia (p = .02–.0003), but not observer-rated dysphagia (p = .4). Combining T classification, patient reported dysphagia, and videofluoroscopy-asp, provided the best predictive model. Conclusion AsPn continues to be an under-reported consequence of chemo-irradiation for head and neck cancer. These data support using patient-reported dysphagia to identify high-risk patients requiring videofluoroscopy evaluation for preventive measures. Reducing videofluoroscopy-asp rates, by reducing swallowing structures radiation doses and by trials reducing treatment intensity in patients predicted to do well, are likely to reduce AsPn rates.