Patients & Caregivers

Care OM™

Caphosol^®

Healthcare Professionals

About Oral Mucositis (OM)

OM is oral mucosal change that results from cancer therapy. It manifests first by thinning oral tissues leading to redness or inflammation of the skin or mucous membranes. As these tissues continue to thin, ulceration eventually occurs.⁵
Oral mucositis is estimated to affect more than 400,000 cancer patients each year¹. In general, it is thought to affect 5% to 15% of cancer patients², though it occurs in approximately 40% of patients receiving conventional chemotherapy³, in as many as 75% to 85% of bone marrow transplant recipients², and in nearly all patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.⁴
Cancer therapy-related OM is a frequent and very significant complication associated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.⁵ Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are common cancer treatments.
Severe OM can complicate the management of cancer. It often leads to interruption of cancer treatment, which can compromise cure rates.⁵
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Cancer Institute's Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI-CTC) measure the pain associated with oral mucositis through the following pain grading system: 0 = no pain; 1 = mild; 2 = moderate; 3 = severe; and 4 = life threatening.³
OM imposes a significant economic burden, because of frequent hospitalizations caused by losing the ability to take anything by mouth due to severe mouth pain. Additionally, pain management usually requires the use of prescription pain medicine such as opioid analgesics, also substantially increasing treatment costs.^4,5
Severe OM can lead to breaks in the oral mucosa and further complications that are linked to morbidity and mortality (life threatening complications and death), including bacteremia and sepsis.⁴
There is an increasing trend of combining chemotherapy with radiation to treat head and neck cancer in hopes that the combined therapy will result in better cancer response rates. However, as a result, severe OM rates in these patients can go as high as 98%.⁵
According to a literature review of more than 6,000 patients, the incidence of OM was greater in the patients who received radiation or a combination of radiation with chemotherapy.⁴
OM may appear in the second week after the start of radiation treatment. It may gradually intensify thereafter and last for two to three weeks after the completion of treatment.¹

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Important Safety Information: Avoid eating or drinking at least 15 minutes after use. Patients restricted to a low sodium diet should consult their physician before use. Federal law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician or dentist.

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C-0157-08