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Oral Mucositis

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Supportive Care in Cancer Therapy

Part of the book series: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development ((CDD&D))

Abstract

Mucositis is a common, painful, treatment-disrupting toxicity of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Patients with cancers of the head and neck receiving radiation therapy with and without induction or concomitant chemotherapy, and individuals being treated with high-dose chemotherapy regimens are at particularly high risk. Importantly, even patients receiving conventional dosing schemes for other forms of cancer have a meaningful chance of developing painful lesions of the mouth and throat during their treatment. The fact that the pathobiology of mucositis is complex and multifaceted provides opportunities for mechanistically based interventions. While palifermin is the only agent currently approved for treatment, it also represents an example of other agents in development for which efficacy is based on disruption of the biological pathways leading to mucositis. This chapter discusses the clinical characteristics of mucositis, how it is evaluated and scored, its pathogenesis, and current and evolving prevention and treatment strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surg/Oral Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA02115, USA

    Nathaniel Treister & Stephen Sonis*

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  1. Nathaniel Treister
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  2. Stephen Sonis*
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA

    David S. Ettinger

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science + Business Media, LLC

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Treister, N., Sonis*, S. (2009). Oral Mucositis. In: Ettinger, D.S. (eds) Supportive Care in Cancer Therapy. Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-291-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-291-5_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-941-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-291-5

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