Pilot randomized, controlled, preoperative intervention for nutrition trial in head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Several prospective studies report improved outcomes with pretreatment nutrition interventions prior to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer (HNC), but none have assessed similar interventions before surgery for HNC. METHODS: POINT, a pilot randomized controlled trial, was conducted to evaluate a multimodal nutrition intervention. Patients undergoing primary surgery with free flap reconstruction for HNC were randomly assigned to the control arm or a preoperative multimodal nutrition intervention. RESULTS: POINT included 49 patients. Nutrition risk scores did not change significantly for either the intervention or control group. Control patients had a significant decrease in body weight in the preoperative period (p < 0.001). Conversely, weight among intervention patients did not significantly decrease (p = 0.680). The intervention mitigated weight loss in patients with dysphagia (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative nutrition optimization shows potential to reduce weight loss normally experienced by patients with head and neck cancer prior to surgical extirpation, especially among those with subjective dysphagia.