[Study of decreased oral intake in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for esophageal cancer]

Patients often experience decreased oral intake due to primary systemic therapy (DCF [docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil ] therapy) administered during the treatment of esophageal carcinoma; measures to cope with this problem have been sought. We therefore examined the relationship between the presence or absence of decreased oral intake and blood biochemistry( serum albumin[ Alb] level, white blood cell[ WBC] count, neutrophil count, and serum sodium[ Na] level) during the 12 courses of DCF therapy administered as primary systemic therapy to 6 patients with esophageal carcinoma. Decreased oral intake occurred frequently from day 6 to day 12 after the initiation of DCF therapy. During this period, decreased serum Alb levels were observed in patients with decreased oral intake but not in patients without decreased oral intake. The incidence of decreased oral intake was 100% in patients whose serum Alb levels decreased to3.5 g/dL, but it did not exceed 33.3% in patients whose serum Alb levels were ≥3.5 g/dL. The serum Na level, WBC count, and neutrophil count were less affected than the serum Alb level, suggesting that decreased oral intake was associated with decreased serum Alb level.