Oral Mucositis Complicating Chemotherapy and/or Radiotherapy

Oral mucositis represents a major non-hematologic complication of cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy associated with significant morbidity; pain, odynodysphagia, dysgeusia, and subsequent dehydration and malnutrition reduce the quality of life of affected patients. In addition, oral mucositis represents a significant risk factor for systemic infections, particularly in neutropenic patients. Consecutive protraction or termination of antineoplastic therapy may lead to treatment failure and result in increases in therapeutic expenses. The term oral mucositis emerged in the late 1980s to describe the chemotherapyand radiotherapy-induced inflammation of the oral mucosa, which represents a separate entity distinct from oral lesions with other pathogenic background summarized as stomatitis.