Analysis of body mass index and body composition in esophageal cancer patients during radiotherapy

Objective：To dynamically analyze the changes of body mass index (BMI) and body composition in patients with esophageal cancer during radiotherapy continuously, in order to provide better nutritional care for patients with esophageal cancer during radiotherapy. Methods：Thirty-two patients with esophageal cancer were included in the study. The body composition was determined dynamically during radiotherapy, including total body water content (TBW), protein, minerals, body fat content (BFM), and skeletal muscle content (SMM). The correlation between BMI and body composition in patients with esophageal cancer at different time points during radiotherapy was dynamically analyzed. Results：TBW, protein, BFM, and SMM began to decrease gradually after the beginning of radiotherapy. Minerals did not change significantly during radiotherapy. The correlation between BMI and BFM was statistically significant (P<0.01), whereas the correlation with minerals was not. Conclusions：Protein, water, fat, and muscle in patients with esophageal cancer decrease significantly during radiotherapy, and the decrease of BMI may mainly due to the decrease of BFM. Increasing dietary fat content is helpful to improve radiotherapy tolerance and quality of life for patients with esophageal cancer during radiotherapy.