For decades, parenteral nutrition (PN) has been a successful method for intravenous delivery of nutrition and remains an essential therapy for individuals with intolerance of enteral feedings or impaired gut function. Although the benefits of PN are evident, its use does not come without a significant risk of complications. For instance, parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease (PNALD)—a well-described cholestatic liver injury—and atrophic changes in the gut have both been described in patients receiving PN. Although several mechanisms for these changes have been postulated, data have revealed that the introduction of enteral nutrition may mitigate this injury. This observation has led to the hypothesis that gut-derived signals, originating in response to the presence of luminal contents, may contribute to a decrease in damage to the liver and gut. This review seeks to present the current knowledge regarding the modulation of what is known as the “gut–liver axis” and the gut-derived signals which play a role in PN-associated injury.

We note that, unlike in animals with intact gut, in an SBS animal model there is inadequate CDCA-induced activation of gut-derived signaling to cause liver improvement. Thus, it appears that activation of GLCT is critically dependent on the presence of adequate gut. This is clinically relevant because it suggests that BA therapy may not be as effective for patients with SBS.

Objectives: Thirty-day (30-day) mortality, a common posttreatment quality metric, is yet to be described following surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to measure 30-day postoperative mortality in HNSCC and describe clinical/nonclinical factors associated with 30-day mortality. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the National Cancer Database (2004 to 2013) was queried for eligible cases of HNSCC (n=91,858). Adult patients were included who were treated surgically with curative intent for the primary HNSCC, not missing first treatment, survival, and follow-up information. The outcome of interest was all-cause mortality within 30 days of definitive surgery. Clinical and nonclinical factors associated with all-cause 30-day postoperative mortality were estimated using a fully adjusted, multivariable logistic regression, which accounted for time-varying nature of adjuvant therapy. Results: A total of 775 patients died within 30 days of definitive surgery for HNSCC (30-day mortality rate of 0.84%). Thirty-day mortality rate was however up to 2.33% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91%-2.75%) depending on comorbidity. In the fully adjusted model, increasing severity of comorbidity was associated with greater odds of 30-day mortality (Charlson-Deyo comorbidity scores of 1: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.21-1.69, and of 2+ aOR, 2.55; 95% CI, 2.07-3.14). Odds of 30-day mortality were greater among Medicaid patients (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.30-2.41), and in patients in neighborhoods with little education (≥ 29% missing high school diploma: aOR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.02-1.78). Conclusions: Patients with higher 30-day mortality were those with a greater burden of comorbidities, with little education, and covered by Medicaid.

Introduction: Factors such as anatomic complexity and extensive surgical procedures increase the risk of serious, sometimes fatal complications post-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Thirty-day (30-day) mortality is a common quality metric that evaluates short-term survival; however, no study has described disparities associated with 30-day mortality following surgery in HNSCC United States population. The aim of this study was to identify disparities and factors (clinical and nonclinical) associated with 30-day postoperative mortality in patients with HNSCC treated with and without adjuvant therapy. Methods: In this retrospective study, we utilized a patient cohort of 102,877 confirmed HNSCC cases from the National Cancer Database (2004-2013) who were treated surgically with curative intent for the primary head and neck cancer. The effects of adjuvant therapy and other clinical and nonclinical factors on 30-day postoperative mortality were estimated via multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for time-varying nature of adjuvant therapy. Outcome was defined as any-cause-death within 30 days after definitive surgery of primary cancer. We controlled for several clinical and nonclinical covariates, including age, race, sex, health insurance status, primary tumor site, stage of presentation, and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score. Results: There were 859 patients who died within 30 days of definitive surgery for cancer, yielding a 30-day mortality rate of 0.83%. Treatment differences were associated with mortality, and patients who received adjuvant therapy had were significantly more likely to die within 30 days compared with those treated with surgery alone (aOR: 3.51; 95% CI 1.85, 6.66). Increasing number of comorbidities was also associated with greater odds of 30-day mortality (Charlson-Deyo comorbidity scores of 1: aOR: 1.45; 95% CI 1.23, 1.71, and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity scores of 2+ aOR: 2.52; 95% CI 2.05, 3.09). There were also sociodemographic disparities associated with 30-day mortality. Odds of 30-day mortality were significantly increased among patients with Medicaid insurance (aOR: 1.99; 95% CI 1.48, 2.68), as well as those who lived in neighborhoods with little education (≥ 29% missing high school diploma: aOR: 1.43; 95% CI 1.08, 1.88). Conclusions: Disparities impact short-term mortality in the head and neck cancer population. Patients that were significantly more likely to die within 30 days of surgical treatment were those treated with adjuvant therapy, those with greater burden of comorbidities, those with little education, and those covered by Medicaid. To our knowledge, this is the largest study to document short term (30-day) mortality disparities among patients with head and neck cancer post-surgery in the United States. To improve short-term survival among head and neck cancer patients, it is important to account for these disparities found in this study. Citation Format: Aleksandr R. Bukatko, Parth Patel, Vindhya Kakarla, Matthew C. Simpson, Eric A. Boakye, Katherine A. Stamatakis, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters. Disparities and factors associated with 30-day mortality following surgical treatment for squamous cell head and neck cancer with or without adjuvant therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr B085.