Frequency of Mucositis Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Three-Dimensional (3D) Radiotherapy

Background and objective Head and neck cancer can arise from any site like hypo-pharynx, oro-pharynx, lip, oral cavity, or larynx. Almost 90% of them are head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). In the current project, the goal was to determine the frequency of acute side effects in terms of mucositis during and immediately post-irradiation period in patients receiving concurrent three-dimensional (3D) radiotherapy in a tertiary care hospital.  Methodology This descriptive case series with 106 enrolled patients was carried out from December 2019 to May 2020 at the Department of Radiation Oncology following approval. All patients were given radiotherapy or chemo-radio-therapy as per the clinician's advice and hospital protocol. All patients were evaluated at pre radiation time, at weekly intervals during treatment and at 11 weeks from 1st radiation fraction. Data was entered and analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Chi-square and Fisher's exact test was applied as p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.  Results In the present study, all patients (n=106) showed a mean age of 57.8 ± 8.3 years. There was a gradual increase in grades of mucositis in all patients after treatments until seven weeks. After one month of post-treatment, a decrease in grades of mucositis was observed in all patients.  Conclusion Acute side effects appeared in all patients receiving 3D radiation therapy (RT) although the treatment response was good. Hence, we concluded it has a high incidence of treatment-related toxicities but it is safe.