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Topical application of honey in the management of radiation mucositis. A Preliminary study

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Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pure natural honey on radiation-induced mucositis.

Patients and methods

Forty patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer requiring radiation to the oropharyngeal mucosal area were divided in to two groups to receive either radiation alone or radiation plus topical application of pure natural honey. Patients were treated using a 6-MV linear accelerator at a dose rate of 2 Gy per day five times a week up to a dose of 60–70 Gy. In the study arm, patients were advised to take 20 ml of pure honey 15 min before, 15 min after and 6 h post-radiation therapy. Patients were evaluated every week for the development of radiation mucositis using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) grading system.

Main results

There was significant reduction in the symptomatic grade 3/4 mucositis among honey-treated patients compared to controls; i.e. 20% versus 75% (p 0.00058). The compliance of honey-treated group of patients was better than controls. Fifty-five percent of patients treated with topical honey showed no change or a positive gain in body weight compared to 25% in the control arm (p 0.053), the majority of whom lost weight.

Conclusions

Topical application of natural honey is a simple and cost-effective treatment in radiation mucositis, which warrants further multi-centre randomised trials to validate our finding.

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Acknowledgements

This research was sponsored by a short-term research grant (304/PPSP/6131132) from the Universiti Sains Malaysia. All authors would like to thank Professor Rashid of the Research and Development section, Dr. M. Ravichandran of the Department of Microbiology, Mr. Md Lukmi Ismail of the Department of Pharmacology, Professor Saringat Baie of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Miss Asikin, for their help in carrying out this project

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Biswa Mohan Biswal, Ahmad Zakaria & Nik Min Ahmad

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  1. Biswa Mohan Biswal
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  2. Ahmad Zakaria
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  3. Nik Min Ahmad
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Correspondence to Biswa Mohan Biswal.

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Biswal, B.M., Zakaria, A. & Ahmad, N.M. Topical application of honey in the management of radiation mucositis. A Preliminary study. Support Care Cancer 11, 242–248 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-003-0443-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-003-0443-y

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