Incidence of oral manifestations in hematological malignancy patients undergoing chemotherapy: prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background: Oral manifestations are frequent in patients with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy and may be directly or indirectly related to drug toxicity. Few studies have assessed the chemotherapy and oral manifestations that patients might develop. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the incidence of oral manifestations in patients with hematologic neoplasms during hospitalization and chemotherapy. Material and Methods: A Prospective Cohort Study, in which adult patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy were followed up daily to observe the possible development of oral manifestations. Sociodemographic and oncological data as well as oral manifestations when presented were collected. All the patients underwent photobiomodulation to prevent mucositis. STATA/SE 12.0, and Excel 365 software were used to assess the collected data. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess categorical variables. Results: 95 patients were included in this study. Sixty four (67,4%) of the patients were male, 31 female (32,6%) and the mean age was 44 years of age (SD 15,1) ranging from 19 to 79. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the most common neoplasm. Cytarabine was the most commonly administered drug used in 72 patients (75,8%). Fungal infections were the most frequent oral manifestations. There was no correlation between the histological diagnosis and the risk of developing oral mucositis. Conclusions: Oral manifestations are frequent in patients with hematological malignancies who are undergoing chemotherapy. Since there is a tendency for increasing cases of hematologic neoplasms annually, it is of paramount importance to know the treatments offered to these patients and the related side effects in order to prevent them and consequently decrease morbimortality.