Lessa, RCAlves, FDAFortunati, ELu, J2022-03-212022-03-2120212021Biomedicines, 9(11), 1531. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines91115312227-9059https://hdl.handle.net/10292/15009Oral mucositis (OM) is a painful condition caused by chemotherapeutic or radiotherapeutic cancer treatments, occurring in patients with different tumour characteristics and locations. OM greatly impacts a patient’s quality of life and cancer recovery. Current OM management strategies are not providing sufficient prevention and treatment; new approaches to injury management are needed. Studies on the benefit of omega-3 free fatty acids (FFA) in human health have increased significantly in recent years. FFA properties have been studied extensively, including their potential therapeutic use in inflammatory conditions. However, omega-3 FFA’s use as a supplementary treatment for OM has not been clinically tested. Preliminary evidence suggests that utilising FFA to manage OM could be a useful strategy for lesion management, assisting with healthy oral mucosa recovery. This review will describe the incidence, risk factors, biology of OM and the current treatment strategies, leading to a discussion of the utility of omega-3 FFA as a novel therapeutic agent for OM.© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Oral mucositis; Inflammation; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Omega-3 fatty acids; Omega-6 fatty acids; Cancer; Prostaglandins; Leukotrienes; Interleukins; CytokinesJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.3390/biomedicines9111531