Swallowing Exercises Help Head And Neck Cancer Patients, Short-Term

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Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 18 Apr 2012 - 13:00 PDT

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The April issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery reports that patients who undergo chemoradiation therapy (CRT), who perform specific swallowing exercises after their CRT, experience a short-term improvement in swallowing. The study also reveals that after nine or twelve months of treatment, there was no substantial difference in swallowing function amongst patients of the intervention and the control group.

Background information of the article states:

"With improvements in swallowing function from post-treatment exercises, interest in the use of prophylactic swallowing exercises to prevent or minimize post-CRT swallowing dysfunction has grown. Indeed, some cancer treatment centers recommend prophylactic swallowing exercises for all their patients undergoing CRT."

In a randomized, controlled trial, Tamar Kotz, M.S., C.C.C.-S.L.P., of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and her team examined 26 patients with head and neck cancer who were receiving CRT. The team randomized 13 patients to the intervention group who performed five specific swallowing exercises throughout their CRT and participated in weekly swallowing therapy sessions, whilst the other 13 patients, i.e. the control group received no swallowing exercises and were referred for swallowing treatment after completion of CRT, if suggested.

The team discovered no statistically important differences in swallowing scores on the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) between both groups immediately after CRT, nor did they observe any statistically important differences in Eating in Public subscale scores between both groups.

They did, however, note at 3 and 6 months after treatment, that those in the intervention group displayed substantially better scores on both scales, whilst the scores between both groups at 9 and 12 months after treatment proved no longer important. The authors remark that this could be because of the study's small sample size and conclude:

"Continued study with a larger sample size is needed to expand on these findings and provide a more powerful analysis of the effect of prophylactic swallowing exercises on patients with HNC [head and neck cancer] treated with CRT."

Written By Petra Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

• Additional
• References
• Citations

"Prophylactic Swallowing Exercises in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Undergoing Chemoradiation"
Tamar Kotz, MS, CCC-SLP; Alex D. Federman, MD, MPH; Johnny Kao, MD; Lyudmila Milman, RPAC; Stuart Packer, MD; Coral Lopez-Prieto, BS; Kevin Forsythe, MD; Eric M. Genden, MD
Archives of Otolaryngology, April 2012, doi:10.1001/archoto.2012.187 Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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