The role of oral mucositis on the systemic inflammation parameter IL-8 in febrile neutropenic cancer patients

Purpose: Cancer patients treated with cytostatic drugs often develop oral mucositis, considered to be a mucosal injury in which various cytokines, such as interleukin 8 (IL-8), may play a role. Plasma IL-8 is a systemic inflammatory response parameter. This study investigated whether oral mucositis affects plasma IL-8 levels in febrile neutropenic cancer patients. Patients and Methods: Patients (n = 57) who were hospitalized with chemotherapy-induced neutropenic fever were scored for oral mucositis on the second day of hospitalization according to a validated oral mucositis assessment scale (OMAS) and WHO toxicity grading. Patients (n = 20) with a clinical sepsis or local bacterial infection were excluded from this evaluation. The remaining 37 patients were divided in groups with and without oral mucositis. Results: The difference in plasma IL-8 level between patients with and without mucositis was not significant (P = 0.7). Similarly no difference was observed in the degree and duration of granulocytopenia. Conclusion: These results indicate that low-grade oral mucositis is not related to the systemic plasma IL-8 level in febrile neutropenic cancer patients without a clinical sepsis or local bacterial infection.