The Search for an Effective Therapy and Pain Relief for Oral Mucositis

Oral mucositis is a significant complication of cancer therapy because of the associated pain and negative effects on the ability to eat, drink, and swallow and on the quality of life. Furthermore, oral mucositis increases the risk of systemic infection, and may interrupt cancer therapy. Oral mucositis manifests as erosions or ulcerations of the nonkeratinized oral mucosa, and its course depends on the form of cancer therapy. Oral mucositis affects an estimated 14% to 81% of patients undergoing some forms of chemotherapy, begins within days of initiating treatment, and lasts for up to 2 weeks depending on the dose, intensity of myeloablation, and stomatotoxicity of the chemotherapy drugs. Among patients undergoing myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, oral mucositis affects an estimated 83%, and the course is similar to chemotherapy-associated oral mucositis; however, it is often more severe and develops faster. Among patients receiving radiotherapy to the head and neck, oral mucositis occurs in 59% to 100% of patients, and signs of it develop within about 2 weeks of treatment initiation and the condition worsens during the radiotherapy course. In a minority of cases (approximately 6%), radiotherapy-associated oral mucositis becomes chronic and can continue for years. Therefore, there has been significant interest in the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis.
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research