Abstract
Background
Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the biological basis for cancer therapy-induced mucosal barrier injury (mucositis). The last formal review of the subject by MASCC/ISOO was published in 2007; consequently, an update is timely.
Methods
Panel members reviewed the biomedical literature on mucositis pathobiology published between January 2005 and December 2011.
Results
Recent research has provided data on the contribution of tissue structure changes, inflammation and microbiome changes to the development of mucositis. Additional research has focused on targeted therapy-induced toxicity, toxicity clustering and the investigation of genetic polymorphisms in toxicity prediction. This review paper summarizes the recent evidence on these aspects of mucositis pathobiology.
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of mucositis researchers is to identify the most appropriate targets for therapeutic interventions and to be able to predict toxicity risk and personalize interventions to genetically suitable patients. Continuing research efforts are needed to further our understanding of mucositis pathobiology and the pharmacogenomics of toxicity.
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Conflict of interest
This project was carried out as part of the MASCC/ISOO Mucositis Guidelines Update, which was supported by BioAlliance Pharma and Helsinn Healthcare, NA. No industry representatives participated in the development of this manuscript in any way.
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Al-Dasooqi, N., Sonis, S.T., Bowen, J.M. et al. Emerging evidence on the pathobiology of mucositis. Support Care Cancer 21, 2075–2083 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1810-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1810-y