Table 3.
Prophylactic feeding in head and neck cancer patients receiving chemoradiotherapy (CRT). P-PEG, prophylactic percutaneous gastrostomy; R-PEG, reactive percutaneous gastrostomy. No-FT, no feeding tube; NGT, nasogastric tube; NC, nutritional counselling; ONS, oral nutritional supplements.
| Author | Type of Study | Cancer Therapy | Number of Patients | Nutritional Treatment | Nutritional Outcome | Interruption of RT | Survival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salas et al., 2009 [43] | Randomized trial | CRT | 39 | P-PEG: 21 pts; R-PEG: 18 pts | Similar decrease of BMI at 6 months in the two groups | Not assessed | Survival not assessed. Better QOL at 6 months in the P-PEG group |
| Nugent et al., 2010 [41] | Retrospective | CRT | 76 | ONS: 26 pts; NGT: 18 pts; P-PEG: 21 pts; R-PEG: 11 pts | WL% at end of treatment:ONS: 6.1NG-tube: 8.5 P-PEG: 4.6; T-PEG:8.7; (p = NS) | No differences between the groups | Not assessed |
| Chen et al., 2010 [42] | Retrospective | CRT | 120 | Control: 20 pts; P-PEG: 70 pts | WL% at end of treatment: Control: 14; P-PEG: 8 (p < 0.001); WL% at 3 months: Control: 8P-PEG: 5; (p = 0.34) | No differences between the groups (p = 0.54) | No significant differences in the 3-year overall and disease-free survival |
| Silander et al., 2012 [40] | Randomized trial | CRT | 134 | NC (+NGT): 70 pts; P-PEG: 64 pts | Same proportion of patients who had a 10 % weight loss at 3, 6 and 12 months | No differences between the groups (p = 0.08). | No differences in 2-year survival between the groups (p = 0.40) |
| Williams et al., 2012 [39] | Retrospective | CRT | 104 | NGT: 21 pts; P-PEG: 71 pts; R-PEG: 12 pts | No differences in weight loss at the end of treatment and at 6 months post-radiotherapy (p = 0.23). | No differences between the groups (p = 0.47). | No significant differences in disease free and overall survival between the groups (p = 0.90 and p = 0.13, respectively) |
| Olson et al., 2013 [38] | Retrospective | CRT | 445 | Center A, prefers R-PEG; Center B, prefers P-PEG: | Same % of patients with 10% weight loss at 1 year in the two centers | Not assessed | No significant differences in the overall survival |
| Lewis et al., 2013 [37] | Retrospective | CRT | 109 | Control: 50 pts; P-PEG:25 pts; R-PEG: 34 pts | Weight loss (%): Control: 15.2; P-PEG: 2.4; R-PEG: 10.4 | Patients with P- PEG completed a higher proportion of chemotherapy cycles compared to control (p = 0.002) and R- PEG (p <0.001). | Not assessed |
| Kramer et al., 2014 [36] | Retrospective | CRT | 74 | P-PEG: 56 pts; R-PEG: 300 pts | No difference in weight loss (%) at 2, 6, 12 months. | Not assessed. | No difference in survival or disease control |