Thirty-eight previously untreated patients with carcinoma of the oral cavity were analyzed in regard to the relationship between induction chemotherapy, primarily employing CDDP, and nutritional status. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) proposed by Onodera was used to quantify nutritional status. The PNI value was calculated by the following formula: PNI=10 × serum albumin valued-0.005 × lymphocyte count. The PNI value before chemotherapy was 47.2 ± 6.7 in patients showing a sufficient response to chemotherapy and 48.1 ± 4.9 in nonresponders. These results were comparable. Regarding the change in PNI after chemotherapy, a rise in PNI was more frequently noted in responders than in nonresponders (52.9% vs.9.5%, P<0.05). These results were attributed to the reduction in pain associated with mastication or swallowing in patients showing tumor regression in response to anticancer therapy, resulting in increased appetite in this group.
