Oral mucositis in patients treated with chemotherapy for solid tumors: a retrospective analysis of 150 cases

The incidence and the severity of chemotherapy-associated oral mucositis were determined in a retrospective analysis of 150 patients with various solid tumors. In addition, possible risk factors for the development of mucositis were identified. Patients were treated with chemotherapeutic regimens appropriate to tumor type and disease stage on an in- or outpatient basis. Mucositis was scored using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Eighty-seven episodes of mucositis occurred in 47 (31%) patients. Twenty-six patients each experienced only one episode, whereas 21 patients had up to eight episodes of mucositis. The 1,281 chemotherapy cycles that have been analyzed included 87 cycles in which mucositis was observed. In 16 patients (11%) only slight oral mucosal changes were recorded (maximum WHO score 1), while 25 patients (17%) experienced mild to moderate mucositis (maximum WHO score 2), and in 6 patients (4%) mucositis was moderate to severe (maximum WHO score 3). No grade 4 mucositis developed. In 24 of the 47 patients with mucositis (51%) clinical features of acute pseudomembranous candidiasis were present. Leukopenia, leukopenic fever, and use of corticosteroids and central venous catheters were associated with the chemotherapy cycles with mucositis. Multivariate analysis identified the administration of paclitaxel, doxorubicin, or etoposide as independent risk factor (adjusted rate ratios 8.06, 7.35, and 6.70, respectively), whereas low body mass was associated with a slightly increased risk (adjusted rate ratio 0.92) for the development of mucositis. In conclusion, almost one-third of patients receiving chemotherapy for solid tumors experienced one or more episodes of mild to more severe oral mucositis, indicating that this is a frequent complication in such patients.