ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relationship between nutritional status and quality of life ( QOL) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and to identify the optimal indices of body composition for evaluation of malnutrition. Methods Based on the European Society Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition ( ESPEN) consensus on the diagnosis of malnutrition and patient?generated subjective global assessment (PG?SGA), a prospective study was performed in 48 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy in our hospital from 2014 to 2015. Changes in body composition and nutritional status were evaluated in those patients. The relationship between nutritional status and QOL was studied. The predictive factors for nutritional status in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were explored. The correlation between datasets was evaluated by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The influencing factors for nutritional status were analyzed by Logistic regression. Results During concurrent chemoradiotherapy, some indices of body composition, including weight, body mass index ( BMI) , fat mass index ( FMI) , fat?free mass index ( FFMI) , body cell mass ( BCM) , skeletal muscle mass ( SM) , and phase angle ( PA) had different degrees of reduction ( P=0?00) , while the PG?SGA score gradually increased. The incidence of malnutrition in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma during radiotherapy was 2?1%?39?6% based on 2015 ESPEN consensus on the diagnosis of malnutrition and 12?5%?41?7% based on PG?SGA. These two methods showed good agreement at the fourth and sixth weeks of radiotherapy ( Kappa=0?911;Kappa=0?957) . The changes in QOL score were correlated with changes in FFMI and weight during radiotherapy ( r= 0?805, P= 0?00;r= 0?777, P= 0?00 ) . Logistic regression indicated that age, FMI, and FFMI were influencing factors for nutritional status ( P= 0?035, 0?013, 0?043) . Conclusions Patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma have substantial nutritional deterioration during chemoradiotherapy. The nutritional status is closely associated with QOL. A prediction model of nutritional status can provide a comprehensive and accurate judgment of nutritional status in patients.