Whole saliva albumin as an indicator of stomatitis in cancer therapy patients

✍ Scribed by Kenneth T. Izutsu; Edmond L. Truelove; Werner A. Bleyer; W. Marc Anderson; Mark M. Schubert; James C. Rice

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1981
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 429 KB
• Volume: 48
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19810915)48:6<1450::aid-cncr2820480629>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

Albumin concentrations were measured in whole and parotid saliva samples collected from patients who were undergoing various cancer treatment protocols and had a high incidence of stomatitis. Oral examinations were made at the time of saliva collection and the degree of stomatitis evaluated. Elevations of whole saliva albumin concentrations were observed in 11 stomatitis incidents. No increases were observed in parotid saliva. The salivary albumin increases always preceded and often occurred in the absence of stomatitis, suggesting that the whole saliva albumin level may be a useful measure and predictor of this condition. If so, monitoring of this parameter could be useful in establishing treatment schedules for chemotherapy protocols that have stomatitis as the limiting factor in treatment.

Cancer 48:1450-1454, 1981.

L B U M I N LEVELS in whole saliva and saliva col-

A lected from ducts have previously been proposed

as quantitative indicators of gingi~itis,~ salivary gland inflammati~n,~ and mucosal or sucular serum transudation into the oral cavity.2 Our clinical experience has been that whole saliva albumin concentration is a useful indicator and predictor of mucositis. This paper presents representative data from several populations of patients showing the relationship between salivary albumin levels and therapy-induced mucositis.

Methods

Two groups of patients were included in this study: ( 1 ) patients undergoing high-dose methotrexate (MTX) cancer chemotherapy, and (2) patients with leukemia or aplastic anemia undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) with high doses of cyclophosphamide (CY), MTX, and either a single (1000 rads) or From the Departments of