A comparative study to assess the effectiveness of curcumin, mucosamin, and chlorhexidine in chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis.

BACKGROUND: Oral mucositis is one of the most frequent and challenging side effects of chemotherapy. At present, none of the guidelines recommend the use of various mouthwashes available for the treatment of oral mucositis. METHODS: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of curcumin, mucosamin, and chlorhexidine in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis. In this randomized and double-blind study, 71 patients over 18 years, who received chemotherapy and suffered from chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis, were randomized into curcumin, mucosamin, and chlorhexidine groups. The World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Toxicity Scale, the Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS), and the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) were used to evaluate oral mucositis. The main endpoint included the onset of complete recovery after starting the treatment. FINDINGS: Based on the WHO, OMAS for erythema, and NRS criteria, complete recovery was achieved from the third day in the curcumin group, which was significantly earlier compared to the other two groups (P < 0.05). The OMAS score for ulceration represented an improvement from day 5 in the curcumin group, which was significantly faster compared to the other two groups (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that all three approaches were effective in improving oral mucositis; however, curcumin could result in faster recovery in comparison with mucosamin and chlorhexidine. The use of curcumin in the treatment of oral mucositis appears to be a viable intervention for reducing potential compromise to treatment and improving the quality of life.

The effect of CHRNA3 rs1051730 C>T and ABCB1 rs3842 A>G polymorphisms on non-small cell lung cancer and nicotine dependence in Iranian population.

AIMS: Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer mortality in all over the world. Nicotine and its derivatives are the most well-known carcinogens that participate in both etiology and progression of lung cancer. The objective of the current study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1051730C > T in CHRNA3 and rs3842A > G in ABCB1, two genes contributing in the mechanism of disposition and metabolism of nicotine and its derivatives, could modify the risk of developing lung cancer, as well as nicotine dependence in Iranian. MAIN METHODS: The genotyping analysis for these two SNPs was conducted in a case-control study of 108 lung cancer cases and 120 healthy controls using ARMS-PCR and Tetra-primer ARMS-PCR techniques. The correlation between studied SNPs and lung cancer was assessed by the regression analysis. KEY FINDINGS: We observed a significant association between lung cancer and rs1051730C > T by using four genetic models: allele (OR:1.83; 95% CI:1.24-2.6; p = 0.002), dominant (OR: 2.19; 95% CI:1.27-3.78; p = 0.005), recessive (OR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.02-4.95; p = 0.043) and additive (TT vs CC: OR:3.25; 95% CI:1.38-7.60; p = 0.007, CT vs CC: OR:1.96; 95% CI:1.10-3.48; p = 0.021). Furthermore, a significant association between this variant and nicotine dependence (OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.52-3.39; p = 0.00005) was reported. However, no association was found for rs3842A > G. SIGNIFICANCE: The results suggested that the CHRNA3 rs1051730C > T via a smoking-dependent manner could modify susceptibility to lung cancer among Iranian population.

Relationship between weight gain and survival rate in patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer accounts for about 13% of all cancers and about 60% of patients with lung cancer also experience weight loss during treatment. There seems to be a clear correlation between the therapeutic outcomes of patients based on their weight changes during treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between weight changes during and after treatment and the therapeutic outcomes of a patient with metastatic lung cancer. Methods: This cohort study was performed on patients with the diagnosis of non-surgical metastatic lung cancer referred to Hematology and Oncology Clinic, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups with a weight gain of more than 5% and a weight gain of 5% and less. The information was entered into the SPSS version 21 software. In the descriptive analysis, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used. To compare quantitative variables, independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney, chi-square or Fisher exact tests were used to compare qualitative variables and correlation test was used to determine the correlation between quantitative data. Survival curves were used to show differences in two groups of studies. A regression model was used to calculate the hazard ratio. The significance level was less than 0.05. Results: Sixty patients, including 40 males (66.7%) and 20 females (33.3%) were studied. The mean age of patients was 62.22±9.00 years (43-83 years). The mean weight changes in the patients were -1.28±6.11 kg (-16 to 16kg). Forty-seven patients (78.3%) had weight gain less than 5%. There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) according to weight gain. Conclusion: Finally, the findings of the study showed that, despite the fact that PFS and OS in the weight gain group were greater than 5% of the original weight; the difference was not statistically significant.