Incidence of hospitalization in patients with head and neck cancer treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

Abstract

Patients with primary head and neck cancer managed with radiation therapy (RT) +/- chemotherapy may experience significant treatment-related toxicities. We assessed hospitalization as a metric for severe treatment-related toxicities and evaluated patient and treatment factors for possible association. A retrospective review was performed on 147 patients with head and neck cancer treated with definitive or adjuvant intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) +/- chemotherapy. Multiple Poisson regression model was used to analyze relationships between patient or treatment factors and number of hospital stays during RT and within 8 weeks after RT. Multivariate analysis showed preexisting diabetes or pulmonary disease, primary carcinoma of oral cavity, and prescribed radiation dose (p < .05) were associated with increased number of patient hospital stays during or shortly after RT. We found that 34.7% of patients experienced a chemoradiation toxicity-related hospitalization during or shortly after treatment. Prior pulmonary disease, diabetes, and increasing prescribed radiation dose were associated with increased hospital stays.