ABSTRACT
Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of thalidomide on preventing and treating radiation-induced oral mucositis (RIOM) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods:A total of 60 patients with NPC were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The treatment group took thalidomide and gargled with mixture of saline+gentamycin+dexamethasone when ra-diotherapy started, and the control group gargled only with mixture of saline+gentamycin+dexamethasone. The time of occurrence and degree of RIOM in both groups were registered at the same time. Results:The incidence of RIOM in treatment group was lower than that in control group (P<0.05). For the incidence of 3 or 4 grade RIOM, the treatment group was also lower than the control group. No statistical difference in terms of objective response rate was found between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no statisti-cally significant difference between the treatment group and the control group in the oral average dose, V30, V35, V40, V45, V50, and V54 (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment group and the control group in the use of nutri-tion agents, hormones and antibiotics (P>0.05). There was no statistical difference between the groups in the drowsiness, peripheral nerve toxicity, hematologic toxicity and gastrointestinal reaction (P>0.05). Conclusion:Thalidomide can reduce the incidence and se-verity of RIOM for radiotherapy of patients with NPC, which deserves clinic application.