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Oral Mucositis in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies Undergoing Chemotherapy

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of oral mucositis in patients with hematologic malignancies and relating to the cancer treatment and chemotherapy regimen. This was a cross-sectional study with 112 patients with hematologic malignancies treated by chemotherapy. The association between oral mucositis and the variables was performed by Pearson’s chi-square test, considering a 5% error probability. The frequency of oral mucositis was low (25%). Its occurrence was associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (PR = 3.33, 95% CI = 1.60–6.91) and the use of melphalan or methotrexate (PR = 5.26, 95% CI = 2.31–11.95). Some chemotherapy drugs, such as melphalan and methotrexate, are more toxic to the oral mucosa, as well as the chemotherapy regimen prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Furthermore, the low frequency of oral mucositis may be related to preventive non-pharmacological protocols, like cryotherapy during drug infusion and laser therapy. This result suggests the importance of the oral care to patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oral Care Department, Professor Edgard Santos Hospital, Federal University of Bahia, Rua Augusto Viana, s/n, Canela, Salvador, BA, 40110-060, Brazil

    Viviane Almeida Sarmento, Davi Silva Carvalho Curi, Thaiane Dantas Dias dos Santos, Renata Portela de Rezende, Liliane Lins-Kusterer & Patrícia Leite-Ribeiro

  2. Rua Araujo Pinho, n.62, Canela, Salvador, BA, 40110-150, Brasil

    Viviane Almeida Sarmento

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  1. Viviane Almeida Sarmento
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  2. Davi Silva Carvalho Curi
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  5. Liliane Lins-Kusterer
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  6. PatrĂ­cia Leite-Ribeiro
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Contributions

Viviane Almeida Sarmento conceived the study and was in charge of overall direction and planning. Davi Silva Carvalho Curi drafted the manuscript with support from Mrs. Sarmento. Thaiane Dantas Dias dos Santos carried out the experiment. Renata Portela de Rezende carried out the experiment. Liliane Lins-Kusterer supervise the project and contributed to the analysis of the results. PatrĂ­cia Leite-Ribeiro helped supervise the project and contributed to the final version of the manuscript. All authors have contributed to the manuscript in significant ways, and they have reviewed and agreed upon the manuscript content.

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Correspondence to Viviane Almeida Sarmento.

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Ethics Approval

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of university hospital (number 1.158.496). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The authors confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication by another journal in either electronic or printed version.

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Sarmento, V.A., Curi, D.S.C., dos Santos, T.D.D. et al. Oral Mucositis in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies Undergoing Chemotherapy. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 3, 2149–2153 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-021-01000-4

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