Status of hydration assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis: a valuable predictive factor for radiation-induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients.
BACKGROUND
Apart from surgery, the methods of treatment of HNC are radiotherapy (RTH) and/or chemotherapy (CRTH/CHT). One of the most frequent and serious complications of RTH is oral mucositis (OM). There is a strict correlation between the inflammation and the status of hydration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in hydration, occurring in the course of RTH, measured by means of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and to analyze them in correlation with the intensification of OM in HNC patients.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Data from 49 HNC patients (stages I-IV) were analyzed. All of them were irradiated using IMRT technique with the doses of 50-70 Gy. Oral mucositis (OM) was evaluated according to RTOG/EORTC guidelines. BIA was performed using ImpediMed bioimpedance analysis SFB7 BioImp v1.55.


RESULTS
In the fourth week of RTH, 4-5 days before the occurrence of severe OM, it was found that patients with OM grade 3 or higher compared to OM grade 2 or lower had significantly: lower ICW% values (respectively, 53.02% vs 50.72%; p = 0.0047), higher: ECW%: (47.95% vs 46.92%; p = 0.0020), TBW% (respectively, 56.34% vs 51.06%; p = 0.0455), ECW/ICW (respectively, 0.96 vs 0.86; p = 0.0007) and ECW/TBW (respectively, 0.49 vs 0.46, p = 0.0033).


CONCLUSION
Our study indicates that HNC patients undergo changes in hydration in the course of RTH. We have also confirmed that the intensification of OM leads to ICW decrease and the increase of ECW, TBW as well as ECW/ICW and ECW/TBW values.
['Brzozowska|A|A|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8883-5816', 'Mlak|R|R|', 'Gołębiowski|P|P|', 'Małecka-Massalska|T|T|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D001834:Body Water D017097:Electric Impedance D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D000074267:Organism Hydration Status D011379:Prognosis D011832:Radiation Injuries D011878:Radiotherapy D013280:Stomatitis
Oral mucositis Head and neck cancer Radiotherapy BIA Hydration status