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Prospective assessment of oral mucositis and its impact on quality of life and patient-reported outcomes during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

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Abstract

Oral mucositis (OM) is a common acute side effect during radiotherapy treatments for head and neck cancer (HNC), with a potential impact on patient’s compliance to therapy, quality of life (QoL) and clinical outcomes. Its timely and appropriate management is of paramount importance. Several quantitative scoring scales are available to properly assess OM and its influence on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and QoL. We prospectively assessed OM in a cohort of HNC patients submitted to radiation using the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS), while its impact on PROs and QoL was evaluated employing the Oral Mucositis Weekly Questionnaire-Head and Neck Cancer (OMWQ-HN) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck Cancer (FACT-HN). Evaluation of OMAS scores highlighted a progressive increase in OM during treatment and a partial recovery after the end of radiation. These trends were correlated to PROs and QoL as evaluated with OMWQ-HN and FACT-HN questionnaires. In the present study, we provided a quantitative assessment of OM, PROs and QoL in HNC patient undergoing radiotherapy, potentially useful for future comparison.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Turin, Via Genova 3, 10126, Turin, Italy

    Pierfrancesco Franco, Stefania Martini, Jacopo Di Muzio, Chiara Cavallin & Umberto Ricardi

  2. Department of Oncology, Radiation Oncology, AOU Citta’ della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy

    Francesca Arcadipane & Monica Rampino

  3. Department of Oncology, 2nd Medical Oncology Division, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy

    Oliviero Ostellino & Mario Airoldi

  4. Department of Surgical Sciences, 1st ENT Division, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giancarlo Pecorari

  5. Department of Surgical Sciences, Maxillofacial Surgery Division, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Paolo Garzino Demo & Massimo Fasolis

Authors
  1. Pierfrancesco Franco
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  2. Stefania Martini
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  3. Jacopo Di Muzio
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  4. Chiara Cavallin
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  5. Francesca Arcadipane
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  6. Monica Rampino
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  7. Oliviero Ostellino
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  8. Giancarlo Pecorari
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  9. Paolo Garzino Demo
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  10. Massimo Fasolis
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  11. Mario Airoldi
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  12. Umberto Ricardi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pierfrancesco Franco.

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We declare that we do not have any conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Department of Oncology of the University of Turin and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Franco, P., Martini, S., Di Muzio, J. et al. Prospective assessment of oral mucositis and its impact on quality of life and patient-reported outcomes during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. Med Oncol 34, 81 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-0950-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-017-0950-1

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