[Causation of stomatitis during cytostatic chemotherapy for head and neck tumors]

In a prospective trial involving 17 patients with head and neck tumors an attempt was made to relate the occurrence of stomatitis during cytostatic chemotherapy to changes in the resident microbial population, if any. Of the 17 patients who received the same cytostatic regimen, 10 developed stomatitis after a mean interval of 12 days. Smears were taken of the 2 patient subgroups (with and without stomatitis) at the onset of treatment and after comparable intervals during treatment and compared to those of a normal control group. Pretreatment smears did not show any quantitative or qualitative differences in the aerobic and anaerobic microbial spectrum between the 3 subgroups examined. During treatment patients developing mucositis were found to show a statistically significant multiplication of pathogens, while the other 2 groups still did not differ from one another. Together with the direct cytostatic effect of chemotherapy, proliferation of pathogens in the oral cavity appears to contribute to the development of stomatitis.