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Simultaneous evaluation of symptoms, swallowing functions, and patient-reported swallowing difficulties and their correlations with ingestion status during definitive chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

To clarify the correlations among symptoms, swallowing functions, and ingestion status and to validate a method of swallowing evaluation during chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for head and neck cancer.

Methods

Oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer patients who were to receive definitive CRT as initial treatment were included in this prospective, single-center, observational study. The Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) for ingestion status and grades of symptoms (dryness, dysgeusia, mucositis, and the analgesic ladder); the Yale Pharyngeal Residue Severity Rating Scale on fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) on videofluoroscopic (VF) evaluation for swallowing functions; and the 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) questionnaire were assessed at 5 time points unless the participant refused. The FEES and VF evaluation findings at each point were also compared.

Results

There were 38 participants. Dysgeusia, mucositis, and pain grade, as well as the FOIS score, were the worst at 70 Gy and then improved after treatment. The improvements of pharyngeal residue and the PAS after treatment were limited. The EAT-10 and the pain ladder were highly correlated with the FOIS changes at many time points. The VF evaluation rate dropped after 40 Gy, whereas the FEES rate remained high. There were good correlations between pharyngeal residue and the PAS at 0 Gy, 70 Gy, and 3 months.

Conclusion

The EAT-10 and pain reflected the FOIS score changes well, while two swallowing evaluations did not. To avoid aspiration, VF evaluation may not be necessary during CRT because of high correlations with pharyngeal residue on FEES.

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Data availability

The authors have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review the data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Ryo Ishii, Kengo Kato, Akira Ohkoshi, Takeshi Sato, Ai Hirano, Takenori Ogawa & Yukio Katori

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  1. Ryo Ishii
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  2. Kengo Kato
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  3. Akira Ohkoshi
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Contributions

Ryo Ishii, Kengo Kato, Ai Hirano, and Yukio Katori contributed to the conception and study design, data acquisition, analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. Takeshi Sato contributed to the data acquisition and analysis. Akira Ohkoshi and Takenori Ogawa contributed to the analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors revised the article critically and approved the final version for publication.

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Correspondence to Ryo Ishii.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Tohoku University School of Medicine (number 2014-1-274).

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Ishii, R., Kato, K., Ohkoshi, A. et al. Simultaneous evaluation of symptoms, swallowing functions, and patient-reported swallowing difficulties and their correlations with ingestion status during definitive chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer. Support Care Cancer 29, 955–964 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05570-2

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