About

  • Most patients will get oral mucositis (OM)as a side effect of their radiotherapy. These patients are likely to find this affects their ability to talk, eat, drink and find it difficult to swallow. They can get painful sores and ulcers in their mouth, and on their tongue and lips.
  • Patients are given help to keep their mouth and teeth clean, have a healthy balanced diet and drink enough water. Patients may also be given painkillers and special mouthwashes and coating gels. We call this the standard treatment. This varies across hospitals in the UK depending on what funding is available, what drugs are available locally and what side effects the patient is having.

  • There is a new treatment called Low Level Laser Therapy. This involves shining a weak laser light on the lining of the mouth. The aim is to take down swelling, relieve pain and help healing. LiTEFORM will tell us if the laser therapy should be widely used in hospitals to help patients with head and neck cancer in the future.We hope that we can improve the quality of life of patients in the future from LiTEFORM.