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Non‐invasive objective evaluation of radiotherapy‐induced dry mouth
Author(s) -
Fujimaki Youko,
Tsunoda Koichi,
Ishimoto ShinIchi,
Okada Kazunari,
Kinoshita Makoto,
Igaki Hiroshi,
Terahara Atsuro,
Asakage Takahiro,
Yamasoba Tastuya
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.12099
Subject(s) - dry mouth , medicine , radiation therapy , saliva , head and neck cancer , basal cell , mucus , salivary gland , dentistry , gastroenterology , biology , ecology
Background Dry mouth is a common complaint in patients undergoing radiotherapy. Here, we employed the oral moisture meter Mucus III to evaluate dry mouth in head and neck tumor patients before and after they underwent radiotherapy. Methods We recruited 17 newly diagnosed patients with pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma or unknown primary squamous cell carcinoma, who received head and neck radiation therapy at T okyo U niversity H ospital in 2008–2010. The primary sites were the epipharynx ( n = 1), oropharynx ( n = 6), or hypopharynx ( n = 5); it was unknown in five cases. Salivary function was assessed by a dry mouth questionnaire, resting saliva test, chewing gum test, and Mucus III , before ( n = 17), immediately after radiotherapy ( n = 10), and at 3 ( n = 9) and 12 months after radiotherapy ( n = 11). Results The questionnaire, resting saliva test, and chewing gum test at 3 and 12 months after radiotherapy indicated a significantly decreased resting and stimulated whole saliva flow rate than prior radiotherapy ( P < 0.05 and P < 0.001). In contrast, Mucus III results showed significant worsening of xerostomia at 12 months after radiotherapy ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Mucus III has been proven to be an objective diagnostic tool for patients with serious dry mouth, such as in patients with S jogren's syndrome. However, we did not find a perfect correlation between Mucus III and other objective (resting saliva and chewing gum) and subjective (questionnaire) measures of dry mouth. To precisely diagnose radiotherapy‐induced dry mouth, further improvement to the method is needed.