A new health awareness campaign from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research explains how proper oral care can prevent or minimize painful complications in the mouth that affect up to one-third of patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Of the 1.2 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year, approximately 400,000 will develop oral complications from their treatments. Many patients, dentists, and oncologists, however, are unaware of the right steps to take to prevent or manage these potentially serious problems. Oral complications can result from all forms of cancer treatment, including radiation to the head and neck, chemotherapy for any type of cancer, and bone marrow transplantation. Oral side effects may be acute, or they may last a lifetime.
Oral complications can affect cancer treatment as well.
These conditions can be so debilitating that patients may tolerate only lower, less effective doses of anticancer drugs, may postpone scheduled treatments, or may discontinue treatment entirely. Oral side effects can also be the source of systemic infections that may interfere with cancer therapy and even threaten patient survival.