Side effects of chemotherapy for mouth cancer

Drugs affect people in different ways. Not all patients have the same side effects with the same drug. Some people have very few side effects at all. It is not possible to tell how you will react until you have had a particular drug.

Side effects that are common with many chemotherapy drugs include

• A fall in the number of blood cells
• Feeling sick
• Diarrhoea
• A sore mouth and mouth ulcers
• Hair loss or thinning
• Feeling tired and run down

Not all these side effects happen with every drug. All the drugs have different side effects. The links above take you to more information about these side effects and how to deal with them.

There is detailed information about the general side effects of chemotherapy in the main chemotherapy section. Ask your doctor or nurse which side effects are most common with the chemotherapy drugs you will be having.

You will have regular blood tests to make sure your blood cells are not getting too low. If you are low on red blood cells, you may need to have a blood transfusion.

If you are low on white blood cells, you are more at risk of picking up infections. If your blood cell counts are low, you may have antibiotics to try to prevent infection. You will always have blood tests just before you have chemotherapy. If your white blood cell count is too low, your doctor may delay your next chemotherapy treatment until your white cells have gone back up to a safe level.

Remember to contact your doctor or chemotherapy nurse straight away if you think you have an infection. If you have a temperature of 38 degrees C or more, let the hospital know straight away.

Many people are able to carry on almost as normal when they are having chemotherapy. But many others become very tired. The further through your course of chemotherapy treatment you are, the more likely you are to feel tired and run down. If you feel tired try to take things more slowly. If you feel like having a lie down or putting your feet up, then it is helpful to do that. You may need to ask friends or family members for help with daily tasks such as shopping, cooking or cleaning. 

Remember that all these side effects will begin to get better as soon as the treatment is over. Holding on to that thought may make them easier to cope with.

Concurrent or synchronous chemoradiation means having a course of radiotherapy at the same time as a course of chemotherapy. The side effects of this treatment are the same as for each individual treatment. But some effects are likely to be more severe.

In particular, you are likely to get a very sore mouth and throat. For some people, their mouth is so sore that they can't swallow. If this happens to you, you are likely to need a feeding tube so you can have liquid food through the tube. If you have a feeding tube, your dietician will work out exactly how much liquid feed you need each day.

You will also have painkillers. For some people their mouth or throat gets very sore and painful. People having this type of treatment often need to have a strong painkiller such as morphine.

When your mouth and throat are very sore, you have to be particularly careful about infection. Try to keep your mouth very clean and follow the advice of your doctor, specialist nurse and dentist. At the first sign of infection (particularly a high temperature with chills, a sore chest or cough), contact your hospital. You will probably be asked to go in for antibiotics through a drip.