Relationship of oral complications to peripheral blood leukocyte and platelet counts in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy.

Patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy often suffer from oral complications as a result of their disease and its treatment. The effects of the chemotherapy on the bone marrow and oral mucosa, coupled with the patient's immunosuppressed state and altered oral microbial flora, predispose these patients to oral mucositis, infection, and hemorrhage. The oral mucosa appears to mirror the effects of the chemotherapy on the bone marrow, as there appears to be a direct relationship between the changing peripheral blood counts and the status of the oral mucosa.