Use of probiotics for prevention of radiation-induced diarrhea.
World J Gastroenterol
; 13(6): 912-5, 2007 Feb 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17352022
ABSTRACT
AIM:
To investigate the efficacy of a high-potency probiotic preparation on prevention of radiation-induced diarrhea in cancer patients.METHODS:
This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Four hundred and ninety patients who underwent adjuvant postoperative radiation therapy after surgery for sigmoid, rectal, or cervical cancer were assigned to either the high-potency probiotic preparation VSL#3 (one sachet t.i.d.,) or placebo starting from the first day of radiation therapy. Efficacy endpoints were incidence and severity of radiation-induced diarrhea, daily number of bowel movements, and the time from the start of the study to the use of loperamide as rescue medication.RESULTS:
More placebo patients had radiation-induced diarrhea than VSL#3 patients (124 of 239 patients, 51.8%, and 77 of 243 patients, 31.6%; P<0.001) and more patients given placebo suffered grade 3 or 4 diarrhea compared with VSL#3 recipients (55.4% and 1.4%, P<0.001). Daily bowel movements were 14.7 +/- 6 and 5.1 +/- 3 among placebo and VSL#3 recipients (P<0.05), and the mean time to the use of loperamide was 86 +/- 6 h for placebo patients and 122 +/- 8 h for VSL#3 patients (P<0.001).CONCLUSION:
Probiotic lactic acid-producing bacteria are an easy, safe, and feasible approach to protect cancer patients against the risk of radiation-induced diarrhea.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Lesões por Radiação
/
Probióticos
/
Diarreia
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Etiology_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
World J Gastroenterol
Assunto da revista:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália