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Volume 5 Issue 4 (April, 2017)

Review Articles

CANCER THERAPY AND MUCOSITIS
Tanveen Kaur Kochhar, Taranvir Kaur, Gurkirat Kaur, Joshita

Radiation therapy is commonly used to treat cancers of the head and neck, most often with radiosensitizing concomitant chemotherapy. Oral mucositis is among the most frequent, symptomatic and regimen-limiting toxicities associated with chemoradiation protocols. Severe mucositis has a major impact on patient daily functioning, well-being, and quality of life. It can also compromise a patient’s ability to tolerate planned therapy, resulting in missed doses or dose reductions. Changes occur in the resident oral flora (commensal) throughout cancer treatment that may have an influence on the development of mucosal toxicity associated with cancer treatment. The complex pathogenesis of mucositis has only recently been appreciated and reflects the dynamic interactions of all of the cell and tissue types that comprise the epithelium and submucosa. The identification of the molecular events that lead to treatment-induced mucosal injury has provided targets for mechanistically based interventions to prevent and treat mucositis. There is a potential interaction between the oral environment and the development of mucositis.
Key words: mucositis, oral flora, chemoradiation

 
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