Seroprevalence of HSV-1/2 and correlation with aggravation of oral mucositis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region submitted to antineoplastic treatment.

Abstract

Oral mucositis (OM) is a frequent side effect resulting from antineoplastic treatment and is described as an acute alteration characterized by ulcerative lesions, with the presence of a persistent chronic inflammatory infiltrate, erythema, and pain. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the presence of the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1/2) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck region (SCC) and its influence on the aggravation of oral mucositis after radiotherapy or radio/chemotherapy treatment. In this prospective cohort study, 91 patients were evaluated with regard to their serological status for IgG before treatment (initial time interval--TI) and for IgM before treatment (T1) and on the 30th day after the first day of radiotherapy application/radiation therapy (final time interval--TF), using immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA), and the results were correlated with the intensity of OM. The seroprevalence for IgG was 97.8 %. IgM (TI) was positive in 18.7% and IgM (TF) in 20.9% of patients. All the patients developed some degree of oral mucositis; however, there was statistically significant correlation between positivity for IgM and degree of severity of OM, irrespective of the type of treatment to which the patient was submitted. The reactivation of HSV-1/2 was shown to be relatively infrequent and there was no correlation between presence of the virus and aggravation of oral mucositis resulting from antineoplastic treatment.