The nutritional support may include liquid diets and eternal feeding.

Many patients with cancers of the head and neck receiving radiotherapy alone can eat soft foods. To the extent that the treatment progresses, most patients will include or switch to liquid diets using nutritional beverages high caloric and protein content. Some patients may need an enteral feeding tube to fill their nutritional needs. Almost all patients who receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy to the head and neck at the same time require a enteral nutrition support in a period of 3 to 4 weeks. Studies show that patients benefit when enteral feeding begins at the start of treatment, prior to this weight loss.
The normal feeding by mouth restarts when the treatment ends and the site that received radiation has healed. The return to normal feeding often requires a team work, which includes a speech therapist and a specialist in swallowing, to facilitate the adaptation process for the return to solid foods. The tube feedings are decreasing with increasing patient's ability to eat by mouth, and removed when the patient can ingest enough nutrients orally. Although most patients regain their ability to eat solid foods, many will have lasting complications such as changes in taste, dry mouth, and trouble swallowing. These complications can interfere with the performance of their nutritional needs and quality of life.