VARIATION OF SALIVARY FLOW RATE IN DIFFERENT ANTINEOPLASTIC TREATMENTS

Objective To investigate salivary flow changes during the treatment of patients submitted to head and neck radiotherapy (HNR) and/or exclusive chemotherapy. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional study with 61 patients divided into 2 groups: GT1 (n = 20)—individuals with malignant neoplasms in any region of the body, except head and neck, submitted to exclusive chemotherapy; GT2 (n = 41)—individuals in HNR associated or not with chemotherapy. Salivary flow examination was performed by an interval of 7 days among them: 3 samples for GT1 (baseline, 7 and 14 days after first infusion) and 5 for GT2 (baseline, 6th, 12th, 18th, and 24th HNR sessions). The GT2 group was subdivided based on the irradiation fields in 3 subgroups: face, neck, and face/neck. Results There was an increase in the salivary flow of the GT1 group and a negative Δ for the GT2 group, which represented a statistical difference for the salivary flow variations between the treatment groups (P Conclusion HNR was able to reduce salivary flow rate significantly, whereas chemotherapy did not seem to influence salivary production.