The impact of oral and oropharyngeal cancer patient’s medical profile on dental treatment needs and treatment-related toxicities. A cross-sectional study

Purpose: To characterize oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OOPSCC) patients with dental needs before cancer treatment and to correlate their baseline characteristics with cancer treatment-related toxicities. Methods: A prospective cohort study that recruited OOPSCC patients referred to the Dental Oncology Service at the Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil, for dental treatment between November/2019 and December/2020. Comorbidities, sociodemographic data, medication in use, treatment-related toxicities and altered laboratory tests results were correlated. Results: 110 patients were included. The most common comorbidities reported and altered laboratory results were respectively hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. Toxicities were progressive over time. There was no correlation between the comorbidities and cancer treatment-related toxicities. There was a positive correlation between medications in use and oral mucositis (OM) and a negative correlation between medications and dysgeusia. OM was associated with altered laboratory findings, including thyroxine (T4) and free thyroxine (FT4) starting at D15; calcium at D5/10/30; urea at D25/30/33-35; creatinine at D15/30; alkaline phosphatase at D20/25; syphilis at D15/30. Family income and housing were OM predictors. Oral candidiasis (OC) was associated with syphilis and HIV at D20. Conclusion: Laboratory findings including altered T4, FT4, urea, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, and syphilis may be useful clinical predictors of OM. Syphilis and HIV may also be considered reliable predictors of OC secondary to OOPSCC treatment. Despite the high frequency of comorbidities and abnormal laboratory results, dental treatment before cancer treatment resulted in no adverse events in our sample.