Malnutrition and Survival - Bioimpedance Data in Head Neck Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) reflects the nutritional status of patients. The aim of this study was to examine whether BIA is able to document the possible impact of malnutrition on survival.

Materials And Methods: The registered data of 42 head and neck cancer patients were analyzed. Survival data of 22 women and 20 men were included. The mean age was 67.3±10.77 years. BIA was measured by the Biocorpus 4000 RX (MEDIcal Health Care GmbH Karlsruhe) and summarized in individual phase angle (PA) of each patient.

Results: Patients with normal PA>5.0 had a significantly better survival (p=0.016). The median survival time was 13.84 months (range=0.69-125.19 months) in malnourished patients (PA<5.0) compared to 51.16 months (range=7.02-116.79 months) in normally nourished head and neck cancer (HNC) patients (PA>5.0). Age adjusted body mass index had a similar impact on prognosis, but was not statistically significant (p=0.068) in the investigated study groups.

Conclusion: BIA is able to document the impact of malnutrition on the survival of head and neck cancer patients.