Prophylactic Oral Vitamin D and Zinc for Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer

November 2, 2023 updated by: Shorooq Mostafa Kamel Ahmed, Assiut University

Effect of Prophylactic Use of Oral Vitamin D and Zinc in Management of the Severity of Radiation Induced Oral Mucositis of Head and Neck Cancer Patients

The main aim of this study was to evaluate clinically the effect of a combination between oral vitamin D and oral zinc in comparison to conventional therapy in prevention of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in Assiut University Hospitals.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Most head and neck cancers are derived from the mucosal epithelium in the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx and are known collectively as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Oral cavity and larynx cancers are generally associated with tobacco consumption, alcohol abuse or both, whereas pharynx cancers are increasingly attributed to infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), primarily HPV-16. Thus, HNSCC can be separated into HPV-negative and HPV-positive HNSCC.

As a major histological type of HNC, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Totally, 53,000 new cases and 10,860 HNC-related deaths were observed in the U.S. in 2019. According to the estimation of the World Health Organization, 439,000 mouth and oropharynx cancer will be observed in 2030.

The main treatment options are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.

Treatment options and recommendations depend on several factors, including the type and stage of head and neck cancer, possible side effects, and the patient's preferences and overall health.

Radiation therapy (RT) plays a key role in curative-intent treatments for head and neck cancers. Its use is indicated as a sole therapy in early stage tumors or in combination with surgery or concurrent chemotherapy in advanced stages. Recent technologic advances have resulted in both improved oncologic results and expansion of the indications for RT in clinical practice.

Chemotherapy is a treatment for head and neck cancer that uses powerful drugs to attack cancer cells. Often chemotherapy drugs are given before or during radiation to improve the effectiveness of care. Other drug therapies target the genetic mutations found in tumors or stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer.

Approximately 60% of head and neck cancer patients who were instructed to receive radiotherapy will suffer from oral mucositis. More importantly, the incidence of oral mucositis increases to 90% when patients underwent concurrent chemotherapy 19% of the latter will be hospitalized and will experience a delay in antineoplastic treatment for high-grade mucositis management.

Oral mucositis is a common side-effect associated with systemic chemotherapy and radiation of the head and neck region. It is characterized as an inflammation of the oral mucous membranes accompanied by many complex mucosal and submucosal changes. Ulcerative oral mucositis can cause significant oral pain, impair nutritional intake, lead to local or systemic infection, and cause significant economic cost. In addition, it may necessitate interruptions in cancer therapy, resulting in a reduction of the quality of life, a worse prognosis and an increase in patient management costs, thus adversely affecting patient prognosis.

vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which has important calcemic roles in the body regarding bone homeostasis and calcium/phosphorus balance. Recently, the non-calcemic roles of vitamin D as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and immuno-regulatory functions have been widely reported.So, we tried to use it for prevention of radiation induced oral mucositis

Oral mucositis scale Vitamin D supplementation significantly improved erythema, lichenoid, edema, ulceration and pain in patients with inoperable/unresectable oral cancer.

Hypovitaminosis D could increase risk of developing OSCC from OPMDs, thus altering the immune response and it is associated with a lower survival rate in patients with OSCC, a greater recurrence of tumors in patients who underwent surgical treatment, and an increase in adverse reactions to chemotherapy. The use of vitamin D supplements can be a complement to primary therapy to prevent the recurrence of lesions and reduce adverse events associated with treatment.

Vitamin D supplementation has a role in reducing treatment-related toxicities, especially in advanced cancer.

Zinc sulfate is beneficial in decreasing the severity of radiation-induced mucositis and oral discomfort. These results should be confirmed by additional evaluation in randomized studies with a larger number of patients.

zinc has the potential of relieving oxidant damage and the progression of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced disease.

The World Health Organization has developed a grading system for mucositis based on clinical appearance and functional status.

The WHO scale is dependent on both objective and subjective variables, and measures anatomical, symptomatic as well as functional components of oral mucositis.

WHO Oral Mucositis Grading Scale Grade Description 0 (none) None I (mild) Oral soreness, erythema II (moderate) Oral erythema, ulcers, solid diet tolerated III (severe) Oral ulcers, liquid diet only IV (life-threatening) Oral alimentation impossible

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Selection of patients

    1. All adults (18 years or older ), who were confirmed based on pathology ( Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas ), will administere chemo-radiotherapy either as preoperative (neoadjuvant), postoperative (adjuvant) therapy or definitive therapy, no randomization .
    2. The treatment group will receive combined oral Vit D and Zinc and the control group will take placebo capsules or receive no treatment.
    3. No documentation of any other causes of oral mucositis in their medical records as : immunocomprmized patients d.t HIV

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Non Head and Neck cancer
  2. patients with any other causes of oral mucositis
  3. Double malignancy
  4. Un eligible patients for radiotherapy ( comatosed, bedridden and sever chest disease )

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
vit D and zinc group
will receive combination of oral vit D and zinc 30 patients
Drug: Vitamin D
the patients will receive a 30 pts a combination of oral vit D and zinc
Other Names:
  • zinc
placebo group
receive Placebo or no treatment 30 patients

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
oral mucositis scale
Time Frame: baseline
The Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) is an objective scale that measures erythema and ulceration at nine sites within the oral cavity grade0:(none) grade1(mild): oral soreness and erythema grade 2(moderate):oral erythema ,ulcers, solid diet tolerance grade 3(sever) :liquids diet only grade 4(life threatening) oral alimentation impossible
baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Assiut University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 14, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 20, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

October 25, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 7, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 2, 2023

Last Verified

November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • EPUO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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