Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Impact of nutritional intervention on concurrent chemo-radiotherapy outcomes in locally advanced esophageal cancer: A pharmacological perspective

Jie Liu¹, Hong Lu¹, Pei Wang¹, Yuexin Zhao², Xin Gu¹, Yaqin Zuo¹, Dahai Yu¹

¹Department of Radiotherapy, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China; ²Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.

For correspondence:- Dahai Yu Email: yudahaipumc@hotmail.com Tel:+8613913982677

Accepted: 2 January 2024 Published: 30 January 2024

Citation: Liu J, Lu H, Wang P, Zhao Y, Gu X, Zuo Y, et al. Impact of nutritional intervention on concurrent chemo-radiotherapy outcomes in locally advanced esophageal cancer: A pharmacological perspective. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(1):191-199 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i1.24

© 2024 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the pharmacological implications of nutritional intervention and the occurrence of toxic side effects in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer undergoing concurrent chemo-radiotherapy.

Methods: An extensive retrospective analysis of clinical data was carried out on individuals who received concurrent chemo-radiotherapy. 150 patients were included in the study, with 85 patients receiving nutritional management (intervention group) and 65 patients without nutritional support (control group). Assessments were conducted for Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) and patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) scores, serum nutritional parameters, toxic side effects and treatment completion rates at 2, 4, and 6 weeks before and during chemo-radiotherapy.

Results: After concurrent chemo-radiotherapy, intervention group exhibited significantly lower NRS-2002 and PG-SGA scores compared to control group (p = 0.002 and 0.001, respectively). Intervention group had a statistically significant increase in PALB (p = 0.001) and ALB, while control group experienced a significant decline in ALB (albumin) and PALB (pre-albumin) levels. Grip strength also significantly decreased in control group compared to intervention group (p = 0.003). Intervention group showed a significantly lower incidence of radiation esophagitis. Moreover, a smaller proportion of patients in intervention group experienced interruptions or delays in radiotherapy compared to control group (95 % vs. 83.3 %).

Conclusion: Nutritional intervention has a pharmacological impact on maintaining nutritional status, reducing treatment toxicities and improving the completion rates of chemo-radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Further investigations and longer-term studies are warranted to shed more light on the potential impact of nutritional interventions on the overall survival rates of these patients

Keywords: Esophageal cancer, Chemo-radiotherapy, Nutritional intervention, Pharmacological, Toxicity