An Interdisciplinary Nutrition Support Team Improves Clinical and Hospitalized Outcomes of Esophageal Cancer Patients with Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy

status, the incidence of complications, and completion rate of radiotherapy were evaluated. Besides, the length of hospital stay （LOS） and the in-patient cost were also compared between these two groups. Results： At the completion of CRF, the nutritional status in the NST group were much better than... Full description

status, the incidence of complications, and completion rate of radiotherapy were evaluated. Besides, the length of hospital stay （LOS） and the in-patient cost were also compared between these two groups. Results： At the completion of CRF, the nutritional status in the NST group were much better than those in the control group, as evidenced by prealbumin （ALB）, transferrin, and ALB parameters （P = 0.001, 0.000, and 0.000, respectively）. The complication incidences, including bone marrow suppression （20% vs. 48%, P = 0.037） and complications related infections （ 12% vs. 44%, P = 0.012）, in the NST group were lower and significantly different from the control group. In addition, only one patient in the NST group did not complete the planned radiotherapy while 6 patients in the control group had interrupted or delayed radiotherapy （96% vs. 76%, P - 0.103）. Furthemlore, the average LOS was decreased by 4.5 days （P = 0.001 ） and in-patient cost was reduced to 1.26 ± 0.75 thousand US dollars person-times （P 〉 0.05） in the NST group. Conelusions： A NST could provide positive effects in esophageal cancer patients during concurrent CRT on maintaining their nutrition status and improving the compliance of CRF. Moreover, the NST could be helpful on reducing LOS and in-patient costs.