ORAL COOLING (CRYOTHERAPY), AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR THE PREVENTIONOF 5-FLUOROURACIL-INDUCED STOMATITIS

Recently, a randomised study demonstrated the utility of oral cooling (cryotherapy) in the prevention of 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-induced stomat itis. In order to verify these results a confirmatory study, using ide ntical treatment regimen, was initiated. 84 patients treated with a 5- FU-containing regimen were randomised to a control arm or to receive o ral cryotherapy. End point evaluation was obtained by a global assessm ent of the physician's judgement and patients' description of mucositi s severity graded 0-4. Mucositis was significantly reduced by cryother apy considering both the first cycle of therapy (the mean toxicity sco re for cryotherapy was 0.59 and it was 1.1 for the control group, P le ss than or equal to 0.05) and all the chemotherapeutic courses (the me an toxicity score for cryotherapy was 0.36 when it was 0.69 for the co ntrol group, P less than or equal to 0.05). In conclusion, the present study confirms that cryotherapy can decrease 5FU-induced stomatitis a nd should be recommended for patients receiving bolus 5FU-containing r egimens.