Effects of proactive and rescue enteral tube feedings on weight change in children undergoing treatment for high-grade CNS tumors.

Background: Children with high-grade CNS cancers frequently experience malnutrition during treatment. We assessed the effects of proactive enteral tube (ET) placement/enteral tube feedings (ETF) on weight in infants/children with high-grade CNS tumors treated with aggressive chemotherapy.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of patients age 0 to 19 years treated for new high-grade CNS tumors between 2002 and 2017 at a tertiary pediatric hospital system.