Higher incidence of chemotherapy induced oral mucositis in females: a supplement of multivariate analysis to a randomized multicentre study

Study on the normal saline vs povidone–iodine mouthwashes for oral mucositis (OM) prophylaxis in patients after high-dose chemotherapy comprising bischloroethyl nitrosourea etoposide ara-C melphalan (BEAM) or high-dose melphalan (HD-L-PAM) followed by autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation indicated that females have higher a incidence of OM compared to men, as reported by [Vokurka et al. 13:554–558, (2005)]. The multivariable analysis of larger cohort of 148 patients compliant with the original study protocol confirmed female gender to be an independent risk factor and predictor for OM. The HD-L-PAM (200 mg/m²) conditioning regimen revealed to be more toxic compared to BEAM as for incidence of OM grades 3–4 World Health Organization score. Body mass index, age, mouthwash solution used, and CD34⁺ cell number in the autologous graft were verified not to have an impact on OM incidence in this group of patients.