Now, I can't get hold of more than the abstract for this article, which was a review, but it brings up an interesting enough thought just with its title. The point was: performing swallowing exercises before undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy for head or neck cancers may preserve the esophagus and diminish the loss of swallowing function seen during normal treatment. Logic dictates that the chemo- and radio-therapies are causing swelling and rawness in the throat, making it difficult and extremely uncomfortable for patients to eat normally, and probably requires IV food injection. The review only cited 3 studies, but these must all show that you can train the throat muscles just like any skeletal muscle in order to prepare them for the trauma of treatment.
Citation: Roe & Ashforth 2011, Prophylactic swallowing exercises for patients receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, Epub ahead of print
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