Clinical study of the effect of oral ulcer protective agent on the prevention and treatment of radioactive oral mucositis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and serum inflammatory factors

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of oral ulcer protective agent in the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) radiotherapy and its effect upon serum inflammatory factors. Methods A total of 90 patients diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma presenting with grade I oral mucositis caused by radiotherapy in our hospital were selected and randomly divided into two groups. In the experimental group, oral ulcer protective agent was given, and Kangfuxin gargle was administered in the control group. The incidence time and degree of radioactive oral mucositis, visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score, serum levels of CRP, TGF-β1, IL-6 and T lymphocyte subsets were statistically compared between two groups by independent-sample t-test. Results At 4 and 6 weeks after corresponding treatment, the incidence of grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ oral mucositis in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P=0.018, 0.021, 0.027, 0.014)). In the experimental group, the incidence of moderate and severe pain assessed by VAS was significantly lower compared with that in the control group (P=0.019, 0.025); After corresponding treatment, the CRP levels in both groups were down-regulated and the CRP level in the experimental group was considerably lower than that in the control group (P=0.013). The levels of TGF-β1 and IL-6 in the control group were significantly increased (P=0.015、0.021), whereas dramatically declined in the experimental group (P=0.012, 0.019). CD3(+ ), CD4(+ ), CD8(+ ) and CD4(+ )/CD8(+ ) were remarkably elevated in two groups, and more significant increase was observed in the experimental group (P=0.024, 0.036, 0.029, 0.017). Conclusions Oral ulcer protective agent can effectively inhibit the progression of oral mucosal injury, shorten the healing time and relieve the pain of oral mucosal injury in patients with NPC., which is worthy of clinical application. Key words: Oral ulcer protective agent; Oral mucosa; Inflammatory factor; Nasopharyngeal neoplasm/radiotherapy