Effect of Topical Application of Pure Honey in Chemo-radiation-Induced Mucositis and Its Clinical Benefits in Improving Quality of Life in Patients of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Oral cancer is a major health problem in India, and in certain parts, it represents more than 50% of all cancers. Since almost all of these patients receive chemo-radiotherapy with or without surgery for treatment, a vast majority of them also develop oral mucositis, a debilitating adverse effect of chemo-radiation. There have been various reports in the literature regarding the beneficial role of honey in the management of oral mucositis. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the application of honey in mucositis confers any significant improvement in lesions of mucositis and more specifically whether application of honey brings about any improvement in the quality of life of patients suffering from chemo-radiation-induced oral mucositis. If found to be beneficial, honey could provide a simple, elegant and cost-effective solution to a troublesome health problem, thus benefiting a large number of patients.

Keywords: Honey; Mucositis; Oral squamous cell carcinoma; Quality of life; Radiotherapy.

Fig. 1

The pathogenesis of oral mucositis given by Dr Stephen T. Sonis [5]

Fig. 2

Comparison of QOL between cases and controls at time intervals

Fig. 3

Comparison of mucositis grade between cases and controls

Fig. 4

Comparison of absolute mean change in QOL in cases and controls from 1st week to subsequent time intervals

Fig. 5

Study group

Fig. 6

Control group