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Vol.57 No.2 contents

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- Original Article -

Efficacy of Polaprezinc Against Chemoradiotherapy-induced Esophagitis in Lung Cancer Patients: a Retrospective Study

Masumi Sandou¹, Yoko Kondo⁴, Naoko Usui¹, Yuki Ueda¹, Kaori Iwata², Noriko Ryota², Motohiro Tamiya⁵, Hidekazu Suzuki³, Norio Okamoto³, Tomonori Hirashima^3
1Department of Pharmacy, ²Department of Nursing, ³Department of Thoracic Malignancy, Osaka Prefectural Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases, Japan, ⁴Department of Pharmacy, ⁵Department of Thoracic Oncology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan

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Objective. Adverse events associated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) include radiation-induced mucositis and esophagitis. Polaprezinc has been reported to be useful for treating these adverse events in head and neck cancer patients. We investigated the preventive effects of polaprezinc against radiation-induced esophagitis in patients with thoracic malignancies. Methods. Our subjects were 50 patients who received CRT. The patients were divided into two groups: one receiving polaprezinc dissolved in sodium alginate (AL+Zn group), and the other receiving only sodium alginate (AL group). We then used a visual analogue scale (VAS) to compare the degree of pharyngeal pain and pain caused by esophagitis experienced by these two groups. Results. Pain was classified as "none or mild" (VAS<30 mm) in 88% of subjects in the AL+Zn group, compared with 83% in the AL group (P=0.315);pain was classified as "moderate" (30 mm≤VAS<54 mm) in 11% of subjects in the AL+Zn group, compared with 4% in the AL group (P=0.060). Of note, pain was classified as "severe" (VAS≥54 mm) in only 1% of subjects in AL+Zn group, compared with 13% of subjects in the AL group, indicating a significant difference (P=0.00088). Esophagitis grade ≤2 occurred in 67% of subjects in the AL+Zn group, compared to an incidence of 84% in the AL group, a non-significant difference (P=0.196). While no grade 3 cases of esophagitis were noted in the AL+Zn group, one was noted in the AL group. Conclusion. Although polaprezinc proved effective in reducing the incidence of severe pain associated with esophagitis induced by CRT in patients with thoracic malignancies, we did not observe any general preventive effects.
key words: Chemoradiotherapy, Radiation esophagitis, Polaprezinc, Prevention

Received: September 23, 2016
Accepted: January 17, 2017

JJLC 57 (2): 96-101, 2017