Preventing and treating the oral complications of cancer therapy

Approximately 1.25 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer for the first time each year. Forty percent (500,000) of these individuals develop oral complications to their cancer therapy. The three modalities of cancer therapy (surgical, pharmacologic, or radiotherapy), employed individually or, more often, in combination, may result in a variety of general and/or treatment-specific oral complications. In many cases, these oral complications lead to dose reductions, delays, or termination of cancer treatment, which reduce the chances of remission or cure. This paper reviews the basic concepts of pretreatment oral care, treatment of oral complications during cancer therapy, and the need for continuing posttreatment oral care.