Patterns of blood pressure changes in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy or chemo‐radiotherapy at a tertiary cancer centre

Background To evaluate patterns of blood pressure (BP) changes in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) receiving radiation (RT)/chemo‐radiation (CRT) Methods This study included data collection, compilation, and analysis of 451 consecutive HNC patients who underwent RT/CRT. Results Out of 451 patients, 376 (82%) were male and 75 (18%) were female with a median age of 52 years. Patients receiving 3DCRT experienced greater fall in BP, including for SBP and MAP, compared to those receiving IMRT‐IGRT. Female patients experienced greater fall in diastolic BP as compared to male patients (p: 0.03). At the end of treatment, we observed a significant association between a fall in systolic BP (decrease by 10% of baseline) and weight loss of more than 10% of baseline weight (p: 0.03). Conclusion Fall in BP during RT/CRT is significantly affected by treatment technique and sex and is strongly associated with significant weight loss.