The short answer
Sometimes eating enough by mouth is not possible — for example with head and neck cancers or severe mouth and throat problems. A feeding tube delivers nutrition directly to the stomach or intestine. It is a supportive tool, often temporary, and your care team and a dietitian guide how it is used and cared for.
A feeding tube (enteral nutrition) delivers nutrition when eating by mouth is not enough.
It is common with head and neck cancers or severe mouth, throat, or swallowing problems.
Tubes can go through the nose (short-term) or through the skin into the stomach (longer-term).
Tube feeding is a supportive tool and is often temporary.
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The full explanation.
What a feeding tube is
A feeding tube delivers nutrition straight into the stomach or small intestine. Doctors call this enteral nutrition. It is used when a person cannot eat or drink enough by mouth. A liquid formula supplies calories, protein, vitamins, and fluid. It is a way to keep nourishment and strength up during treatment. It is not a sign that treatment is failing, and for many people it is temporary.
Why it might be recommended
Tube feeding is often considered when eating by mouth is too hard or unsafe for a while. That can happen with cancers of the head and neck or the esophagus. It can also follow severe mouth or throat soreness from radiation, trouble swallowing, or steady weight loss despite your best efforts. Keeping nutrition steady can help people get through treatment better and avoid breaks in it. You and your team decide together, based on your situation.
Types of tubes and what to expect
Short-term feeding often uses a nasogastric tube, which passes through the nose into the stomach. For longer-term needs, a tube may go through the skin of the belly, straight into the stomach or the intestine. A tube into the stomach is often called a PEG or G-tube. Formula can run slowly through a pump, or come in larger amounts at set times. It can feel strange at first. A dietitian and a nurse will teach you how to use the tube, how to clean it, and how to handle common problems.
Living with a feeding tube
Many people still sip or eat small amounts by mouth, if their team says it is safe. Some tubes come out once eating recovers. Keep the tube and the skin around it clean, and follow the feeding schedule. Know who to call about clogs, leaks, nausea, or trouble at the tube site. Your care team and dietitian are your main guides here, and the plan they write for you comes ahead of anything on this page.
When to get help sooner
Most tube problems are minor. A few are not. Do not try to fix a tube yourself, and do not force fluid into a blocked tube.
- Call 911 or go to an emergency department if the tube comes out completely, you are coughing or choking during a feed, or you become short of breath.
- Call 911 or go to an emergency department if you have severe belly pain, a hard swollen belly, or you are vomiting and cannot stop.
- Seek care immediately, not at the next clinic slot, if your temperature reaches 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or you have shaking chills. The CDC calls a fever during cancer treatment an emergency, so ring the 24-hour number your team gave you or go to an emergency department.
- Call your care team the same day if the skin around the tube is red, swollen, warm, or leaking pus.
- Call your care team the same day if the tube is blocked and will not flush, or it has moved and looks longer or shorter than usual.
- Call your care team within a day or two if you have new nausea, bloating, or loose stools with feeds, or the skin at the site is sore or weepy.
Sources
Words to know
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Common questions
What is a feeding tube for?
It delivers liquid nutrition directly to the stomach or intestine when someone cannot eat or drink enough by mouth, keeping calories, protein, and fluid up during treatment.
Is a feeding tube permanent?
Often it is temporary — used while eating is hard and removed once eating recovers. Some people need one longer. Your team will explain what is likely for you.
What are the main types?
A nasogastric tube through the nose for short-term use, or a tube placed through the belly skin into the stomach (PEG/G-tube) or intestine for longer-term needs.
Can I still eat by mouth?
Sometimes, if your team says swallowing is safe, you can sip or eat small amounts alongside tube feeding. Always follow your team's guidance.
Questions to ask your doctor
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How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Editorial review complete — This page completed Cancer Explained's editorial checks (sources, safety, plain language, duplication). It has not been reviewed by a physician or other healthcare professional.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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