Abstract
Oral mucositis in oncologic patients is the most undesirable event of the chemotherapeutic treatment. This study aimed to identify damage to the oral cavity resulting from chemotherapy in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This is a prospective study with a sample of 42 children and adolescents evaluated for 10 consecutive weeks after diagnosis. The modified Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) was used, and data were analyzed by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (α = 5%). Changes to the normal lips and saliva were positively related to an increase in the OAG score during all 10 weeks of evaluation. Alterations to the labial mucosa were correlated with an increase in the OAG score from the 2nd to 10th week, which was also found for changes in the tongue and in the swallowing function in Weeks 1, 6, 8, 9, and 10 and for gum changes from the 5th to 7th week. No significant vocal changes were correlated with the total OAG score at any point during the monitoring period. Changes in lips, cheek and/or palatal mucosa, labial mucosa, and gum areas and in swallowing function were positively correlated with an increase in the severity of oral mucositis in patients with ALL after beginning chemotherapeutic treatment.
Highlights
Leukemia is considered the most prevalent underlying disease in pediatric patients and is characterized by the uncontrollable production of immature leukocytes [1]
40% of cancer patients subjected to chemotherapeutic treatment exhibit oral complications resulting from stomatotoxicity [7] with the common onset of inflammation and ulceration of the oral mucosa, which clinically manifests in an edematous, erythematous and friable
The present study aimed to identify damage to the oral cavity and functions that occurs during the induction phase of chemotherapy remission for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatric cancer patients
Summary
Leukemia is considered the most prevalent underlying disease in pediatric patients and is characterized by the uncontrollable production of immature leukocytes [1]. Among existing types of leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) primarily affects leukocytes and is the most serious and most common type of childhood cancer, accounting for approximately 80% of cases of leukemia from 0 to 19 years of age [2]. It is used to rapidly destroy malignant proliferative cells. It has the undesirable effect of affecting normal tissues with high mitotic rates, including the oral mucosa, the gastrointestinal tract, and hematopoietic tissue [5,6]. 40% of cancer patients subjected to chemotherapeutic treatment exhibit oral complications resulting from stomatotoxicity [7] with the common onset of inflammation and ulceration of the oral mucosa (mucositis), which clinically manifests in an edematous, erythematous and friable
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