Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul 17;22(1):293.
doi: 10.1186/s12903-022-02329-5.

Changes in oral function, swallowing function, and quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer: a prospective cohort study

Yoshiaki Ihara  1 , Hirotaka Kato  2 , Yuichi Tashimo  2   3 , Yoshiki Iizumi  2 , Yuma Fukunishi  2 , Hitoshi Sato  3 , Toshikazu Shimane  3 , Koji Takahashi  2
Affiliations

Changes in oral function, swallowing function, and quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer: a prospective cohort study

Yoshiaki Ihara et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment can cause oral morbidities, such as oral dryness and dysphagia, affecting the patient's quality of life (QOL). The relationship between oral functions and QOL in patients with early-stage HNC remains poorly studied. This study aimed to evaluate changes in the QOL of patients with early-stage HNC and identify factors that affect the QOL of these patients.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 37 patients who underwent early-stage (Stage I/Stage II) HNC treatment were evaluated for their oral function, swallowing function, and the QOL score at baseline (BL) and 12 months after surgical treatment (12 M). The participants were divided into two groups: patients who returned to the BL QOL score at 12 M (RE; n = 26) and those who did not (NR; n = 11).

Results: In total, 29.7% (11/37) patients with early-stage HNC did not return to the BL QOL score at 12 M. There was no significant difference between the RE and NR groups regarding the oral and swallowing function. Moreover, oral and swallowing function of all patients returned to the BL at 12 M. The NR group showed lower QOL scores than the RE group in the global health status, and "sticky saliva" parameters in the questionnaires.

Conclusion: Restoration of the oral function is insufficient to improve the QOL of patients with early-stage HNC. The treatment of these patients should instead consider several factors that affect their QOL.

Keywords: Dysphagia; Head and neck cancer; Morbidity; Oral function; Quality of life; Swallowing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The results of oral functions. a The results of LC. There was no significant difference about the mean LC between RE and NR at both BL and 12 M. b The results of TP. There was no significant difference about the mean TP between RE and NR at both BL and 12 M. c The results of OM. There was no significant difference about the mean OM between RE and NR at both BL and 12 M
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The results of swallowing functions a: The results of MASA-C. There was no significant difference about the mean MASA-C score between RE and NR at both BL and 12 M. b: The results of FOIS. There was no significant difference about the mean FOIS score between RE and NR at both BL and 12 M
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gupta B, Johnson NW, Kumar N. Global epidemiology of head and neck cancers: a continuing challenge. Oncology. 2016;91:13–23. doi: 10.1159/000446117. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rütten H, Pop LA, Janssens GO, Takes RP, Knuijt S, Rooijakkers AF, et al. Long-term outcome and morbidity after treatment with accelerated radiotherapy and weekly cisplatin for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer: results of a multidisciplinary late morbidity clinic. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2011;81:923–929. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2010.07.013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ganzer H, Rothpletz-Puglia P, Byham-Gray L, Murphy BA, Touger-Decker R. The eating experience in long-term survivors of head and neck cancer: a mixed-methods study. Support Care Cancer. 2015;23:3257–3268. doi: 10.1007/s00520-015-2730-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Glastonbury CM, Parker EE, Hoang JK. The postradiation neck: evaluating response to treatment and recognizing complications. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2010;195:W164–W171. doi: 10.2214/AJR.09.4122. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ihara Y, Crary MA, Madhavan A, Gregorio DC, Im I, Ross SE, et al. Dysphagia and oral morbidities in chemoradiation-treated head and neck cancer patients. Dysphagia. 2018;33:739–748. doi: 10.1007/s00455-018-9895-6. - DOI - PubMed