Submitted:
08 March 2017
Posted:
09 March 2017
You are already at the latest version
Abstract
The current treatment for cervico-facial cancer involves radio and/or chemotherapy. Unfortunately, cancer therapies can lead to local and systemic complications such as mucositis, which is the most common dose-dependent complication in the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract. Mucositis can cause a considerably reduced quality of life in cancer patients already suffering from physical and psychological exhaustion. However, melatonin, whose role in the treatment of mucositis has recently been investigated, offers an effective alternative therapy in the prevention and/or management of radio and/or chemotherapy-induced mucositis. This review focuses on the pathobiology and management of mucositis in order to improve the quality of cancer patients’ lives.
Keywords:
mucositis
; radiotherapy
; chemotherapy
; pathophysiology
; management
; melatonin
Copyright: This open access article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permit the free download, distribution, and reuse, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse.
