title: A prospective study of incidence, clinical and quality of life consequences of oral mucositis post palifermin prophylaxis in patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation.
abstract: Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) has presented a revolutionary advance in the management of hematologic malignancies with low toxicity. However, oral mucositis (OM) remains a distressing toxic effect of AHCT and one of the major side effects of the conditioning. This prospective, observational study aimed to evaluate the severity of oral cavity pain and quality of life (QOL) and explore incidence, duration, and potential risk factors of moderate/severe OM. Thirty-nine patients receiving prophylactic palifermin post-AHCT were enrolled. QOL and severity of pain were assessed using validated questionnaires (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and mouth and throat soreness (MTS), respectively). The incidence of moderate/severe OM was 28.2 % with a median duration of 5 days and was associated with younger age and female gender. Severity of pain related to OM was generally low or moderate with only 25 % of patients reporting a score >6 on the MTS scale of 0-10 on day +7. Health-related QOL was worse on day +7 in the transplant unit compared to day 1, while on discharge day, all scores recovered and the total FACT-G score was not different from that on day 1. In our population, the incidence and duration of OM and the severity of pain related to OM appeared to be lower compared to that reported in previous studies. The impact of OM on QOL assessments seemed to be reversible with optimal supportive care despite the major transient disabilities mainly attributable to OM.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Department and BMT Unit, "G. Papanicolaou" General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Exokhi, 57010, Thessaloniki, Greece, bmt@gpapanikolaou.gr.
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakellari
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angelopoulou
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tsopra
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dervenoulas
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tsirigotis
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spyridonidis
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liga
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsionos
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anargyrou
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pouli
authors.forename: Achilles
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anagnostopoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D051523:Fibroblast Growth Factor 7 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056990:Post-Exposure Prophylaxis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D051523:Fibroblast Growth Factor 7