Current Trends in Management of Oral Mucositis in Cancer Treatment

Shankar, Abhishek; Roy, Shubham; Bhandari, Menal; Rath, Goura; Biswas, Aalekhya; Kanodia, Ravi; Adhikari, Narayan; Sachan, Rashika

doi:10.22034/APJCP.2017.18.8.2019

Current Trends in Management of Oral Mucositis in Cancer Treatment

Document Type : Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Authors

¹ Department of Preventive Oncology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, India.

² Department of Paediatrics, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, India.

³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, India

⁴ Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, Kolkata, India

10.22034/APJCP.2017.18.8.2019

Abstract

Oral Mucositis (OM) is among the most common and dreaded toxicities of cancer therapy. It occurs in almost all patients who receive radiation therapy in which areas of oral and oropharyngeal mucosa are included in the treatment field. With the advent of chemotherapy in 1940 and its extended clinical legacy, it is only within the past two decade or so that mucositis’ complex pathobiology has become fully appreciated. There are still many unanswered questions about the risk factors for developing OM, but historically, risk factors have been attributed to both therapy and patient m characteristics. One thing that has been consistent from the initial descriptions of its clinical manifestations has been the frustration on the part of clinicians and patients with the scarcity of therapeutic options to prevent or treat the condition, or effectively ameliorate the symptoms. Clinicians, researchers and those involved in oral and periodontal medicine should join hand in hand in persuit of understanding and developing treatment strategies for treatment of inflammatory conditions like OM in oncology. This will lead to development of effective treatments and reducing the burden of OM and other inflammatory conditions in oncology.

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