Influence of Enteral Nutrition on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Patients within a Pair-Matched Sample

Sep 24, 2026

Patients with head and neck and upper gastrointestinal tract cancers are highly vulnerable to malnutrition, which worsens prognosis and quality of life and may require enteral or parenteral nutrition. This paired-sample study assessed the effect of enteral nutrition on quality of life using EORTC QLQ C30 self-reports and retrospective medical-record analysis. Among 50 patients in matched subgroups, weight loss, age, and group type were key determinants; enteral nutrition patients showed lower functional and higher symptomatic scores than controls.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages15

Reading Time38 min

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1. Introduction

nutrients Article Inﬂuence of Enteral Nutrition on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Patients within a Pair-Matched Sample Elwira Gliwska 1,2, *, Dominika Gła˛bska 3, Zuzanna Zaczek 4,5, Jacek Sobocki 4,† and Dominika Guzek 1,† Citation: Gliwska, E.; Gła˛bska, D.; Zaczek, Z.; Sobocki, J.; Guzek, D. Inﬂuence of Enteral Nutrition on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Patients within a Pair-Matched Sample. Nutrients 2023, 15, 4698. [https://doi.org/10.3390/](https://doi.org/10.3390/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/)nu15214698 Academic Editors: Paolo Orlandoni and Nikolina Jukic Peladic Received: 9 October 2023 Revised: 1 November 2023 Accepted: 2 November 2023 Published: 6 November 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department of Food Market and Consumer Research, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS-SGGW), 159C Nowoursynowska Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland; [dominika_guzek@sggw.edu.pl](dominika_guzek@sggw.edu.pl) 2 Cancer Epidemiology and Primary Prevention Department, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 15B Wawelska Street, 02-034 Warsaw, Poland 3 Department of Dietetics, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS-SGGW), 159C Nowoursynowska Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland; [dominika_glabska@sggw.edu.pl](dominika_glabska@sggw.edu.pl) 4 Department of General Surgery and Clinical Nutrition, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education in Warsaw, 231 Czerniakowska Street, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland; [zuzanna.zaczek@wum.edu.pl](zuzanna.zaczek@wum.edu.pl) (Z.Z.); [jsobocki@mp.pl](jsobocki@mp.pl) (J.S.) 5 Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, 27 Erazma Ciolka Street, 01-445 Warsaw, Poland * Correspondence: [elwira_gliwska@sggw.edu.pl](elwira_gliwska@sggw.edu.pl)[ ](elwira_gliwska@sggw.edu.pl)† These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Patients with cancers of the head and neck and upper gastrointestinal tract are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, which worsens both their prognosis and quality of life and may result in the need for enteral or parenteral nutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of enteral nutrition on the quality of life in a paired sample. This study included 50 patients with cancer in two paired subgroups: with enteral nutrition (studied group) and without enteral nutrition (matched group) . This study was based on self-reports collected with the EORTC QLQ C30 questionnaire and retrospective analysis of medical records. The analysis revealed that weight loss, group type, and age were the primary factors inﬂuencing patients' quality of life. Compared with all cancer patients and the general Polish population, the scores of patients in both groups were below reference values for functional scales and exceeded reference values or were similar for fatigue and vomiting/nausea. Patients who received enteral nutrition more frequently scored lower on the functional scales and higher on the symptomatic scales than the control group. These ﬁndings emphasize the complex relationship between cancer, nutritional status, and quality of life. Keywords: quality of life; cancer; enteral nutrition; EORTC QLQ C30 1. Introduction According to the Global Cancer Statistics (GLOBOCAN) for the year 2020, it was reported that there were approximately 19.3 million new cancer cases and nearly 10.0 million cancer-related deaths [1] . It is predicted that the number of new cancer cases will continue to i

FAQs

Why do patients with head and neck or upper gastrointestinal cancers have higher risk of malnutrition?

They are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, which negatively affects prognosis and quality of life and may lead to the need for enteral or parenteral nutrition.

How was quality of life measured in the study?

Quality of life was assessed using self-reports from the EORTC QLQ C30 questionnaire, together with retrospective analysis of medical records.

What factors were identified as primary determinants of quality of life?

Weight loss, group type (with or without enteral nutrition), and age were the primary factors influencing patients’ quality of life.

Sep 24, 2026

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