Swallowing Exercises for Nasopharyngeal Cancer After Radiation Therapy

Swallowing Exercises for Patients With Nasopharyngeal Cancer After Radiation Therapy

This study is designed to investigate the treatment efficacy of 8 weeks swallowing exercise programs for patients with NPC after radiation therapy. This study also compares two different swallowing exercise: effortful swallow and Mendelsohn's maneuver, to see which one can bring more benefits to patients after a certain period of exercise training. Three assessment tools are selected to evaluate the study result: Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA), videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS), and Chinese version Swallowing Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (CSWAL-QOL). The hypothesis of this study is that the effortful swallowing exercise would have better treatment efficacy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients diagnosed with NPC
• completed radiation therapy at least 1 year
• mild to moderate swallowing disorder defined by videofluorography
• able to comply with protocal mandate, willing to perform the exercise programs, and ability to attend the weekly sessions

Exclusion Criteria:

• feeding tube insitu
• received pharyngeal surgery
• tracheostomy tube insitu
• patients who could not put effort to push posterior tongue base backward and who could not elevate their pharyngeal during swallowing
• severe swallowing disorder or aspirate defined by videofluorography
• other malignances, neurovascular disease, demyelinating disease
• cancer relapse or metastases