Oral complications of multimodality therapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck

Investigational treatment of advanced localized stage III or stage IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck may include chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy and surgery. Such therapy, while effective in eradicating local tumors, often produces considerable oral toxicity. In this study we reviewed the oral complications of 22 patients receiving multimodality cancer treatment. The addition of chemotherapy to the treatment regimen did not increase the incidence of complications (osteoradionecrosis, mucositis, xerostomia, radiation caries, or infection) when compared with historical controls receiving radiotherapy alone. Pretreatment dental evaluation and close follow-up of these patients are encouraged.