The relationship between nasal tube feeding and videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing using the AsR score in patients with hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine oral intake status and AsR score, which is a simplified evaluation method for videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing (VF) in patients with hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer undergoing chemoradiotherapy (CRT) . A total of 24 patients, 15 with hypopharyngeal cancer and 9 with laryngeal cancer, were enrolled. We retrospectively investigated the results of VF and the use of nasal tube feeding in three periods: the start of CRT, at 1 month of CRT, and at the end of CRT. As a result, 7 of the 24 patients required nasal tube feeding at the end of CRT. The mean radiation dose at the start of nasal tube feeding was 45.4Gy. The mean number of days from the end of CRT to the end of nasal tube feeding was 22.0 days, and the mean number of days of using nasal tube feeding was 41.6 days. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, the cut-off value of AsR score where oral intake was possible at one month after the start of CRT was 6. AUC (area under the curve) was 0.789.