Annual Report 2020
Department of Dentistry
Takao Ueno, Wakako Yatsuoka, Takeo Kanayama, Akiko Mori, Hiroki Hayano, Chie Asano, Yuko Terade, Minami Ono, Miki Fukuda, Misa Okubo, Miho Komuro
Introduction
Oral complications are common in patients receiving chemotherapy or undergoing radiation therapy of the head and neck.
Oral complications during cancer therapy are directly linked to ingestion problems and may even act as a source of various infections such as aspiration pneumonia, thereby exacerbating systemic conditions, and sometimes preventing the completion of cancer therapy with negative effects on treatment prognoses. The oral health status of patients with cancer is associated with the incidence rate and degree of severity of oral complications. Effective oral hygiene management before initiating cancer therapy can help reduce oral complications such as mouth sores, oral mucositis, and dental infections, and provide important support to facilitate smooth cancer therapy.
The Team and What We Do
To prevent or reduce oral complications, we check for complications during cancer treatment, determine the patients' oral condition, identify the patients at risk and start preventive measures before the start of cancer therapy.
Our routine activities for cancer patients include:
1) Management of the oral complications of high-dose chemotherapy and/or stem cell transplantation before treatment begins.
2) Prevention and treatment of oral complications during chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
3) Perioperative dental management to prevent postoperative pneumonia with oral, pharynx and esophageal surgery.
4) Construction of prostheses for restoring postoperative facial defects.
5) Prevention and treatment of medication-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ).
6) Cooperation business between a medical department and dentistry for solving dental problems of cancer patients.
- Total number of patients: 14,320
- Total number of new patients: 1,791
Education
Lectures and practice training on oral health care were regularly held for nurses and residents.
Future Prospects
We aim to create a new system to strengthen collaboration with nurses, emphasizing preventive dental interventions, and conduct screening of oral cavity problems.
We will also continue contributing to medicine- and dentistry-related collaborations with cancer care hospitals in the region.
List of papers published in 2020
Journal
1. Katsura K, Soga Y, Zenda S, Nishi H, Soga M, Usubuchi M, Mitsunaga S, Tomizuka K, Konishi T, Yatsuoka W, Ueno T, Aragaki T, Hayashi T. A cost-minimization analysis of measures against metallic dental restorations for head and neck radiotherapy. J Radiat Res, 62:374-378, 2021
2. Nakao R, Ueno T. Effects of oral moisturizing gel containing propolis following head and neck radiotherapy: randomized controlled pilot trial. BDJ Open, 7:12, 2021
3. Murakami N, Omura G, Yatsuoka W, Okamoto H, Yoshimoto S, Ueno T, Itami J. Hybrid Intracavitary-Interstitial brachytherapy in a case of nasal vestibule cancer penetrating the hard palate. BJR Case Rep, doi.org/10.1259/bjrcr.20200178 , 2021
4. Kandwal A, Saini S, Ahmad M, Nautiyal V, Pattanayak M, Raj D, Takao U. Validation of a Novel 'Supportive Oral Care Protocol' (SOCP), a Model for Care in Head and Neck Cancer Patients at Tertiary Cancer Centre in India. Indian J Surg Oncol, 11:769-777, 2020