title: Pretreatment assessment and dental management of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Patients who present with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) require through oral and dental assessment prior to treatment of the malignancy. We assessed the oral status of 57 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of NPC. In this study, identified risk factors for NPC were seen to be different in Asian versus non-Asian patients. Epstein-Barr virus seropositivity was seen in all Asian patients and in 69% of non-Asian patients (P = 0.00006), and reported alcohol use was greater in the non-Asian patients. In this study it was found that 68% of dentate patients required dental extractions primarily due to periodontal disease. Even in patients who reported receiving regular dental care (28%) extractions prior to radiation therapy were suggested. Oral complications of radiation therapy were reported by 84% of patients, with the most common being xerostomia. Clinical diagnosis of candidiasis (16%), rampant caries (10% of dentate patients) and difficulties with dentures (25% of denture wearers) were noted. In addition to pretreatment assessment, continuing oral and dental management is needed for patients with NPC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dentistry, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Emerton
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lunn
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001955:British Columbia; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000150:complications; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000628:therapy*