Evaluating Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Medicine Oral Rinse in Treating and Preventing Irradiated Oral Mucositis in Head-and-Neck Cancer Patients - a Pilot Trial

Approximately 60% and 90% of patients with head and neck (H&N) cancers receiving standard radiotherapy (RT) and chemoradiotherapy (chemo-RT) will develop oral mucositis respectively. Oral mucositis (OM) is one of the dose-limiting adverse events which can also lead to emotional and nutritional problems. Clinically, it is usually observed by the end of first week of RT (after 10 Gy) and reaches peak damage in 14-21 days or by the end of treatment. Healing then takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks after completion of RT.

The risk of OM is especially high in NPC patients who receive concomitant chemotherapy, receive a total dose over 5,000 Gy, treat with altered fractionation radiation schedules, have bad oral hygiene status, do not use antibiotic at early stage mucositis, have smoking history, drink alcohol, have problems in nutritional status like anorexia, malnutrition, lack of vitamins, restriction of food due to specific dietary requirements, have haematological disease or non-ideal hematological status, have advanced localization of tumors and stage, receive immunotherapy, have pre-existing dry mouth (Xerostomia), have episodes of OM during prior treatment cycles and low BMI, etc.

According to some weighed guidelines such as The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer and International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) guidelines for the management of OM, recent systematic reviews and researches, there are mainly several sections for intervention: (1) Basic oral care, (2) Anti-inflammatory agents, (3) Photobiomodulation, (4) Cryotherapy, (5) Antimicrobials, coating agents, anesthetics, and analgesics, (6) Growth factors and cytokines, and (7) Natural and miscellaneous. We can summarize several suggestions for the prevention of OM in H&N cancer adults receiving RT from the above protocols: multiagent combination oral care protocols (increasing the awareness of good oral hygiene), professional dental care (a desirable option before or during cancer therapy for local and systemic infections from odontogenic sources), benzydamine mouthwash (as the anti-inflammaotary agents for moderate dose of RT (<50 Gy)) and intraoral photobiomodulation therapy using low-level laser therapy. Over the years, the number of interventions studied for OM and their quality of study design have been dramatically increasing. However, since there are still some advantages and disadvantages for some suggested agents, some clinical settings have not yet been recommended with appropriate intervention. Natural and miscellaneous agents are also reviewed in the past years while honey is suggested for prevention of OM in patients with H&N cancer who receive treatment with either RT or chemo-RT. However, if honey is applied repeatedly on a daily basis for a longer period, we have to be cautions with its deleterious effects. A strict oral hygiene protocol has to be followed to prevent dental caries.

For the Chinese Medicine (CM) interventions, many studies have been reviewed on the efficacy of mouthwash or internal herbal decoction to OM. Although some positive results were observed, most of them were performed by applying different assessment tools and lack of quality of life (QOL) or self-reported symptoms assessment. In addition, the intervention time and follow-up period were usually insufficient (stopped at the end of RT), therefore they could not review the long-term efficacy of CM according to normal progression of OM and the safety of using CM. Therefore, we hope this pilot study can evaluate the efficacy and safety of CM in a strict protocol.