"April 2004" / Bibliography: leaves 121-142. / xviii, 142, [19] leaves : ill. (some col.), plates (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Attempts to build a complete understanding of the cellular mechanisms associated with gastrointestinal mucositis through investigations of the effects throughout the gastrointestinal tract of chemotherapeutic agents Methotrexate and Irinotecan, the possible ameliorating potential of the cytokine Interleukin-11 in reducing the side effects of chemotherapy, the expression of pro- and anti-apoptopic proteins and transcription factors along the gastrointestinal tract in normal human patients and the time-course of development of oral mucositis in human patients. Suggests that the entire gastrointestinal tract follows a similar pattern of development of mucositis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Medicine, 2004