The Need for Standardized Toxicity Criteria Much has been written about mucositis and stomatitis, but a lack of consistency in the use of grading criteria and reporting standards makes it very difficult to draw comparative conclusions concerning toxicity end points among various institutions or trials. This lack of standardization remains problematic, in spite of recent efforts to improve grading and reporting.[3]In 1981, the World Health Organization published grading criteria for 28 acute toxic side effects, including hematologic, gastrointestinal, renal/bladder, pulmonary, cardiac, cutaneous, neurologic, and pain side effects.[4] This was followed by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Common Toxicity Criteria in 1983, which included 49 chemotherapy-related toxicity criteria scales.[5] One year later, an acute radiation toxicity system was published by the Radiation Treatment Oncology Group (RTOG),[6] followed by different toxicity grading standards for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG). Of note, the latter 2 groups did not establish criteria for evaluating radiotherapy-induced toxicity. Thanks to Doctor's Guide Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.