Vol 20, No 4 (2015)
Original research articles
Published online: 2015-07-01

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Smoking during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer and acute mucosal reaction

Beata Szeszko1, Karolina Osowiecka1, Monika Rucińska12, Ewa Wasilewska-Teśluk12, Krzysztof Gliński1, Lucyna Kępka1
DOI: 10.1016/j.rpor.2015.04.001
Rep Pract Oncol Radiother 2015;20(4):299-304.

Abstract

Aim

We compared the incidence of RTOG/EORTC grade III and higher acute mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer who continued to smoke during radiotherapy with those who quit smoking.

Background

There are conflicting data on the relationship between smoking during radiotherapy and the severity of acute mucosal reaction. More studies dealing with this issue are needed.

Materials and methods

Among 136 patients receiving curative radio(chemo)therapy, 37 (27%) declared that they had not quit smoking during radiotherapy. The intensity of mucositis was scored daily by a nurse and weekly by a physician using the RTOG/EORTC scale. The main end-point of the study was the highest observed RTOG/EORTC grade of mucositis.

Results

Patients who smoked during radiotherapy (smokers) were younger than their counterparts who quit smoking (non-smokers), p[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]=[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]0.06. There were no other differences in the baseline characteristics between smokers and non-smokers. Grade III/IV acute mucositis was observed in 43.5% of all patients. The percentage of patients with grade III/IV acute mucositis was similar in smokers and non-smokers (46% vs. 42%, p[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]=[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]0.71). Nine patients (smokers [13.5%]; non-smokers [4%], p[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]=[[ce:hsp sp="0.25"/]]0.05) required prolonged hospitalization to heal mucositis.

Conclusions

In the whole group, smoking during radiotherapy was not related to acute mucosal toxicity evaluated as the rate of the highest observed grade of mucositis.

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