Prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition in patients with cancers of the head and neck

Summary Background & aims Head and neck cancer (HNC) are at high nutritional risk; however the prevalence and severity of malnutrition in contemporary patients with HNC are unclear. Diagnostic criteria for cancer-associated weight loss grading (WLG) (Grades 0 to 4) [1] have been validated and are recommended in oncology nutrition clinical practice guidelines [2–3]. The aim was to determine the prevalence using WLG in HNC patients and determine the extent to which reduced dietary intake (DI) explained variation of WLG. Methods A population-based cohort of HNC patients (N = 1756) in northern Alberta, Canada included consecutive new patients, 2004–2016. At referral to the regional cancer center weight history and DI categories were collected. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) identified predictors of weight loss (WL) severity. Overall survival (OS) in relation to WL Grade and DI was determined by multivariable Cox proportional hazard. Results WL was absent in 42.9% and the remainder had Grade 1 (18%), Grade 2 (14.7%), Grade 3 (15.9%) and Grade 4 (8.5%) WL. Independent predictors of WLG in adjusted MLR model, included stage (P  Conclusion Data from this population cohort provide a benchmark for prevalence of cancer associated WL severity at diagnosis. Patient reported DI categories are strong predictors of WL and prognostic for OS.