Chemotherapy in Pediatric Oncology Patients and the Occurrence of Oral Mucositis

Abstract

Background: It is known that chemotherapeutic agents are not equally stomatotoxic and oral cavity lesions are the most frequent complications encountered in antineoplastic chemotherapy. Aims: The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of severe oral mucositis during a chemotherapy treatment and to identify its relationship with the chemotherapeutic class used. Materials and methods: This is a longitudinal, prospective, and observational study that used an intensive direct observation technique for assessing the oral clinical conditions and the chemotherapy treatment administered to 105 patients (both children and adolescents). Results: Severe oral mucositis occurred in all the 10 weeks of evaluation (ranging from 16.2 to 31.4%) and the association between the type of chemotherapy and the occurrence of severe oral mucositis is recorded only in the 6th week, with the chance to develop severe oral mucositis being 3.07 (3.85–2.29) times higher in patients underwent chemotherapy with antimetabolites than in those who have not used chemotherapy (p = 0.012). Conclusion: It was concluded that the chemotherapeutic agents most related to severe oral mucositis and to the interruption in chemotherapy are those of the class of antimetabolites, especially the methotrexate and the Ara C.