J. Maxiliofac. Oral Surg. (Jan—Mar 2019) 18(1):73-79 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-017-1077-9CrossMarkARATIVEEffect 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 CarcinomaDebraj Howlader’ • Vibha Singh’ • Shadab Mohammad’ – Seema Gupta2 • U. S. Pal’ – Mahesh PalaReceived: 19 January 2017/Accepted: 22 December 2017/Published online: 11 January 2018 0 The Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India 2018Abstract 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 appli-cation 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, honey2 Vibha Singh vibhasinghraghuvanshigginail.corn; [email protected] Debraj Howlader [email protected] Shadab Mohammad shadab3 I [email protected] Seema Gupta [email protected] U. S. Pal [email protected] Mahesh PaI [email protected]Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dental Sciences, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India 2 Department of Radiation Oncology, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India Department of Phytochemistry, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, Indiacould provide a simple, elegant and cost-effective solution to a troublesome health problem, thus benefiting a large number of patients.Keywords Oral squamous cell carcinoma • Radiotherapy Mucositis • Honey Quality of lifeIntroduction and Review of LiteratureOral cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. It profoundly alters the lives of both patients and their family and imposes a huge demand on healthcare services. Oral cancer constitutes a group of neoplasms affecting any region of the oral cavity, pharynx and salivary glands. The term oral cancer can, however, be used interchange-ably with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which according to estimates constitutes more than 90% of all oral neoplasms [ 1 1. OSCC is currently the 10th most common human malignancy affecting more than 378,500 individuals per year worldwide with three quarters of cases belonging to the developing world. In countries of the Indian subcontinent, especially in parts of India, oral can-cer can represent more than 50% of all cancers and is therefore a major public health problem [2], In addition to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are important modalities in the treatment of cancers. These therapies, being largely non-specific, in addition to tumor cells, act on normal tissues with a high cell turnover, such as those of the oral and gastrointestinal mucosa and the bone marrow. Oral mucositis is inflammation of the oral mucosa resulting from cancer therapy typically manifesting asSpringer
