Supportive Care in Cancer

, Volume 24, Issue 11, pp 4825–4830 | Cite as

Chronic oral mucositis after radiotherapy to the head and neck: a new insight

Original Article
First Online:
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Abstract

Purpose

Oral mucositis is a major complication of anticancer therapy yet the literature focuses on immediate (acute) mucosal changes and hardly describes the chronic form. We aim to report the clinical manifestations of chronic mucositis.

Methods

A retrospective chart review of oral mucositis referrals was performed. Inclusion/exclusion criteria defined the patients that were considered to have chronic mucositis.

Results

Four female patients treated for tongue/lower lip squamous cell carcinoma were included. Extensive painful oral mucositis lesions developed in all patients during the course of radiotherapy, with ulcers remaining for 5–24 months after completion of therapy. We describe two presentations, namely the persistent form (long-lasting ulcers continuing from acute ulcers) and the recurrent form (new discrete ulcers appearing on atrophic mucosa following the completion of radiotherapy).

Conclusions

The long-term oral complications of radiotherapy to the head and neck may include chronic atrophic, erythematous, and/or ulcerated lesions. A diagnosis of chronic oral mucositis should be considered when the lesions are observed at least 3 months after radiotherapy, and other possible etiologies have been excluded. The influence of age and comorbidities (primarily diabetes mellitus) on chronic mucositis, the significance to patient’s quality of life, and the management of chronic mucositis are important subjects for future research.

Keywords

Chronic Oral cancer Oral medicine Oral mucositis Oral oncology Radiation therapy Radiotherapy 
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Notes

Compliance with ethical standards

All photographic documentation was approved verbally by the patient at the time the photograph was taken. This report was approved by the institutional ethics committee.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Division of Oral Medicine and Hospital General Dentistry, Eastman Institute for Oral HealthUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterUSA
  2. 2.Wilmot Cancer CenterUniversity of Rochester Medical CenterRochesterUSA
  3. 3.Department of Oral Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Institute, Medical CorpsIsrael Defense ForcesTel HashomerIsrael
  4. 4.Department of Oral Medicine, Sedation and Maxillofacial ImagingHebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental MedicineJerusalemIsrael

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