MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE TOXICITIES DURING RADIOTHERAPY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCERS

Objective: Head and neck cancer management often involves multimodal treatment including radiotherapy. Despite the improvement of intensity-modulated radiation therapy, acute and late toxicities remain important. The goal of this work was to focus on optimal methods to prevent and manage acute skin and mucous reactions related to radiation through a systematic review of recently published literature.
Methods: The present review of literature focuses on data referenced in PubMed© and Google Scholar search engines from 1986 to 2021.
Results: Acute radiation mucositis and dermatitis remain the most commonly observed side effect during radiotherapy of head and neck cancers leading to complications such as infection, candidiasis and potentially treatment disruption. Management of these disease is still heterogenous. Currently, there is no general consensus about the prevention or about the treatment of choice. Various topical agents have been tried,however, their efficiency remains uncertain.
Conclusion: Present data from the literature highlight the need for further trials, in order to provide evidence-based treatments in order to harmonize clinical practice.
Key words: Head and neck cancer, Radiotherapy, Acute toxicity,Mucositis, Dermatitis.