A randomized trial of an intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake in curatively treated patients with early-stage head and neck cancer

The leading cause of death in patients who have had curatively treated early-stage head and neck cancer is a second primary cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract (lung, esophagus, larynx, pharynx, and oral cavity cancers). Low fruit and vegetable intake has been associated with increased risk of primary head and neck cancer and the available data suggest that increasing intake following diagnosis may reduce the risk of a second primary cancer. The goal of this study was to develop and test an easily administered intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake in these patients following diagnosis and treatment. The 6-month intervention was based on the Stage of Change model. Seventy-five early-stage head and neck cancer patients were randomized to either the intervention group or to the blinded control group, with diet change data available on 65 patients. Fruit and vegetable intake, assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and plasma carotenoid concentrations were measured at baseline and at the end of the study period. The change in self-reported intake of fruit and vegetables (servings per day) over the study period was significantly greater (P = 0.009) in the intervention group (n = 35; +2.1) compared with the control group (n = 30; +0.5). Total plasma carotenoids, a biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake, increased by 70 nmol/L in the intervention group as compared with a reduction of 42 nmol/L in the control group, a relative difference of 12% (nonsignificant). An intervention that can be delivered in a physician's office resulted in a significant increase in intake of fruit and vegetables in early-stage head and neck cancer patients.