Consequences of OM

Oral mucositis (OM) is reported as one of the worst side effects of cancer treatment.1 Its effects can produce consequences such as the following:

• Treatment delays
• Additional hospitalizations and procedures
• Infections
• Additional medical costs2

In addition, OM can affect your quality of life during treatment by making it harder for you to eat, drink and communicate. This can frustrate your efforts to cope with your disease.3 In some cases, people with severe OM may even require intravenous (I.V.) nutritional therapy, a feeding tube, or both.2

Because sores provide a doorway into your body for the microbes that normally live in your mouth, OM greatly increases your risk of infection at a time when your body is not well prepared to fight it.3 This can lead to hospitalization, and in some cases, infections can be life-threatening.3,2

Treatment costs also rise as a result of OM. In one study, a researcher estimated treatment costs for study participants:

• For participants without OM, the average cost of hospitalization per cycle would have been about $3,893.
• For participants with OM, the average cost of hospitalization per cycle would have been nearly twice that amount, at about $6,277.4

Visit Preventing Oral Mucositis to learn how you may be able to avoid these consequences, and visit Managing Oral Mucositis to learn how you can better manage OM if you develop it.