Abstract
There was a few study concerning the oral adverse events during cancer therapy with molecular targeted drugs. Among the patients referred to our oral care unit from April 2007 to March 2014, 23 patients who were treated with molecular targeted drugs showed 27 oral adverse events. We examined the details of the oral adverse events and the causal drugs on these 23 patients. Ten patients were treated with small molecule drugs, while 17 patients were treated with monoclonal antibody drugs. The small molecule drugs were used singly, whereas the monoclonal antibody drugs were always used with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Oral mucositis was observed in all 23 patients (27 events), and taste disorder was seen in 4 patients (4 events). All patients received the professional oral management, then they completed their cancer chemotherapy in the designated period. Because the single use of sunitinib (multi-kinase inhibitor) could lead oral mucositis, an intensive oral management before sunitinib treatment should be necessary.
