Stomatitis from therapy for breast cancer might not be dependent on the number or kind of therapy agents – but on what else?

Although quality of life is an important objective of many breast cancer (BC) trials, there is only few published knowledge of the prevalence of chemotherapy (CT) associated stomatitis, predisposing factors and its effective treatment. To start a systematic investigation we constructed a questionnaire as a pilot study. BC survivors were asked to complete a questionnaire retrospectively. Statistical analysis was performed for questions of frequency of stomatitis, influencing factors and supportive treatments. 234 patients (93.2%) returned the questionnaire. The collective matches common BC patient populations. 160 patients (68.4%) suffered from stomatitis of grade I (40 patients, 25,0%), II (17 patients, 10.6%), III (100 patients, 62.5%) or IV (3 patients, 1.9%). Except from the use of epirubicin (p=0.049) none of the tested parameters (age, CT, etc.) reached significance in the impact on frequency or intensity of stomatitis. Lavage fluids (60.6%) and antimycotics (10.0%) were the most often used therapeutics, of which the first subjectively helped the best (79.2%). 130 patients (86.7%) estimated stomatitis from CT worse than from RT. 46.3% of the patients who got stomatitis during CT also developed stomatitis from RT. In regression analysis the correlation between the grade of stomatitis in CT and RT is significant (ß=0.180, p=0.006). After this retrospective pilot study it seems necessary to examine other factors than CT agents, numbers and intensity or age, etc. There might be a molecular approach of susceptibility to problems in individual oropharyngeal health during CT. Clinical studies to find an effective supportive stomatitis therapy are urgently needed.

breast cancer - chemotherapy - stomatitis