Sore mouth or gut (mucositis)
Mucositis is a common side effect of some blood cancer treatments. It affects your gastrointestinal tract, which includes your mouth and gut.
What is mucositis?
Mucositis is a condition which affects your digestive system. Read about about the different types of mucositis and what causes them.
Mucositis symptoms
Symptoms of mucositis can start up to two weeks after you begin treatment for blood cancer. Find out what to look out for and what to tell your hospital team.
Mucositis treatments
There are lots of medicines and other treatments that can lower the risk of getting mucositis, and help with the symptoms if you get them..
Mucositis self-help tips
There are things you can do to help yourself if you get mucositis. Find out how you can avoid and lessen the symptoms of mucositis.
This information about mucositis is accredited with the PIF TICK, the UK's only quality mark for trusted health information.
Last reviewed September 2025. Next full review due September 2028. We may make factual updates to the information on these pages between reviews.
We would like to thank Consultant Haematologist Kevin Boyd and Clinical Nurse Specialist Jodie Nightingill for checking the medical content of our mucositis information.