Long-Term Clinical Consequences of Severe Oral Mucositis in Survivors of Lip, Oral Cavity, and Pharynx Cancer Versus Leukemia: A Propensity-Score-Matched Comparative Cohort Study Using Real-World Data

Severe oral mucositis is a powerful, durable prognostic determinant in cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, where it identifies patients associated with elevated lifelong risk of swallowing dysfunction, aspiration-related lung disease, malnutrition, and premature death. The markedly attenuated effect in leukemia survivors suggests that direct high-dose radiation-induced structural damage to the pharynx and oral cavity-rather than systemic immunosuppression or chemotherapy intensity alone-is the dominant mechanism.