Abstract
Radiation therapy in head and neck malignancy often triggers painful mucositis poorly controlled by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). To better understand how radiation-induced pain develops over time, we studied numerical rating scale (NRS 0-5) pain scores in 27 subjects undergoing 60-72 Gy radiation therapy for newly diagnosed cancer—13 with mesopharx and 14 with hypopharynx. Mucositis severity was evaluated using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version3.0 (CTCAE v3.0) based on mucositis pain, analgesic administration, and oral feedings of our subjects, with 8 mesopharyngeal and 10 with hypopharyngeal cancer had been pain-free before radiation therapy. The mucositis and pain course was severer in mesopharyngesl than in hypopharyngeal cancer. NSAIDs and opioid use was similar in both cancer types, which also required tube feeding in 7 subjects (38.9%).
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