Aims & Objectives- to evaluate weight loss in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head neck cancers. Material & Methods- The present study was conducted on 100 patients between age group of 30-70 years attending ENT OPD of SMGS Hospital, GMC Jammu during a time period of July 2017 to June 2019. Inclusion criteria for our study were patients with primary sites of malignancy at oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx & hypopharynx undergoing external beam radiotherapy. Exclusion criteria were age below 30 years, patients on palliative radiotherapy, patients who underwent surgery for primary cancer and patients requiring feeding jejunostomy at any point of treatment. A baseline weight of all patients was taken using weighing machine, before starting the radiotherapy; once weekly thereafter till the end of treatment; followed up for weight loss on 1st and 3rd month after treatment completion. Weight loss was calculated as a percentage with reference to the pre treatment weight. Results- Out of 100 patients, 68 patients showed 10% weight loss and 3 patients showed no weight loss. The mean weight loss in our study was 4.9kgs. Conclusion-Weight loss is a common side effect of radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients.
