Oral complications of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer reffered to Ghazi and Madani hospitals of Tabriz in 2018

Abstract

Objectives: Malignancy is increasing in different societies, so is recognized as the second most important cause of mortality in advanced countries. The incidence of head and neck cancer in the world has been estimated 560,000 new cases a year including 300,000 deaths. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the oral complications of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancers referred to Tabriz Ghazi Tabatabai and Shahid Madani Hospitals.

Materials and Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted for six months from June 2018 to December 2018 in Tabriz Ghazi Tabatabai and Shahid Madani Hospitals. Patients with head and neck cancer undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy were included in the study. The LENT-SOMA questionnaire was used to assess the complications of chemotherapy and radiotherapy including pain, taste changes, dysphagia, xerostomia and trismus. Then the patients were clinically examined and mucositis and herpetic lesions were investigated. Data were presented in terms of mean (± standard deviation) and frequency (percentages) for quantitative and qualitative variables respectively. Data analysis was done by SPSS17.

Results: In this study, 57 patients with head and neck cancer were studied. 23 patients under chemotherapy, 18 patients under radiotherapy and 16 patients underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 73.3% of patients were male and 26.3% were female and the most complication observed in three groups was xerostomia that were 73.7% in chemotherapy patients, 78.9% in radiotherapy and 93.8% in the concurrent group. Other complications of pain, dyphagia, trismus, herpetic lesions, mucositis and taste changes in the concurrent group were more than the other two groups.

Conclusion: Among 57 patients with head and neck cancers xerostomia in this research, the most common complication was dry mouth and oral complications were more common in the group treated with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.