ORAL MUCOSAL SIDE-EFFECTS OF CYTOTOXIC CHEMOTHERAPY OF TESTICULAR CANCER - A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Cancer chemotherapy often leads to injury of normal cells. Adverse eff ects on oral mucosa have been documented for several cytotoxic treatme nt regimens. The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluat e incidence and degree of oral soft tissue side-effects of a cisplatin -based chemotherapy regimen used for treating testicular cancer. The s tudy was based upon a questionnnaire mailed to 56 consecutive patients treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. A total of 39 individuals j oined the study, as 2 patients refused and 15 did not reply. The patie nts were divided into two groups, a case group (24 individuals) having received 4-7 cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in addition to su rgery, and a control group (15 individuals) treated with surgery alone . The study revealed that 62% of the patients in the chemotherapy grou p developed adverse soft tissue reactions, with mucositis and pain as chief complaints, whereas none in the control group experienced any mu cosal complications.