Systematic review demonstrates herbal therapies improve oral mucositis in cancer patients, suggesting potential benefits.
Oral mucositis (OM) is a common condition in cancer patients, especially those undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with a high prevalence in intensive treatment cases. To investigate the effectiveness of herbal therapies in the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis in patients undergoing cancer treatment. Articles published between 2014 and 2024, written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, were searched in the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases using the MeSH descriptors ‘Therapy Associated Neoplasms’, ‘Radiotherapy’, ‘Chemotherapy’, ‘Phytotherapy’, ‘Medicinal Plants’, ‘Plant Extracts’, ‘Traditional Medicine Practitioners’, ‘Ethnopharmacology’, ‘Oral Mucositis’ and ‘Stomatitis’, combined with the boolean operators ‘AND’ and ‘OR’. Of the 792 records screened, 27 randomized clinical trials were included in this review. Respectively, 24 (88.9%) and 3 (11.1%) trials evaluated adults and children. A total of 13 (48.2%), 12 (44.4%), and 2 (7.4%) studies presented low, moderate, and high risk of bias, respectively. Chamomilla recutita (chamomile), Aloe vera (medicinal aloe), and Curcuma longa L. (turmeric) proved effective alternatives for preventing and treating OM. Further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of Silybum marianum L. (milk thistle), Morus nigra L. (black mulberry), Vitis vinifera (grape seed), Zataria multiflora (satar), Punica granatum (pomegranate seed), Plantago ovata (psyllium), and Syzygium aromaticum (clove) in OM treatment. The potential of herbal medicines as adjuvants in oral mucositis treatment encourages the continued search for more effective, safe, and acceptable therapies for cancer patients.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Santos et al. (2025) studied this question.