Salivary flow rate (stimulated) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Chinese medicine led to higher salivary flow rate (stimulated) compared with no treatment/placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Xerostomia (grade >= 2, 0-4 scale) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Palifermin showed no clear difference in xerostomia (grade >= 2, 0-4 scale) compared with placebo (low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Drooling (hyposialosis) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Antiseptic mouthrinse showed no clear difference in drooling (hyposialosis) compared with placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Taste discrimination improvement · Patients with taste disturbances (dysgeusia/hypogeusia; idiopathic, zinc-deficient, or secondary to chronic renal failure)
1 finding from 1 review
Number of days in hospital · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin),… showed no clear difference in number of days in hospital compared with placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral mucositis (severe) · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (severe) compared with placebo or no treatment (low certainty).
3 findings from 1 review
RR 0.74 [0.33, 1.67]
3 studies · 235 participants
Low
RR 0.59 [0.05, 7.11]
2 studies · 65 participants
Very low
RR 0.31 [0.01, 7.09]
1 study · 29 participants
Very low
Quality of life (McMaster HNRQ, 1-7 scale) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
It is very uncertain whether pilocarpine changes quality of life (McMaster HNRQ, 1-7 scale) compared with no treatment/placebo (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Disease-free survival · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Amifostine showed no clear difference in disease-free survival compared with no treatment/placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Side effects · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
1 finding from 1 review
Quality of life · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Amifostine showed no clear difference in quality of life compared with no treatment/placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Number of days unable to take medicine orally · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Salivary flow rate (unstimulated) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
It is very uncertain whether amifostine changes salivary flow rate (mg/5 min, unstimulated) compared with no treatment/placebo (very low certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
Progression‐free survival · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Amifostine showed no clear difference in progression-free survival compared with no treatment/placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse events · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse events attributed to KGF were typically oral-related or skin-related; mostly mild to moderate with very few serious events; reporting poor and inconsistent, not appropriate to meta-analyse (SoF comments cell,…
16 studies
GRADE not reported
Oral mucositis (any severity) · Children receiving bone marrow/stem cell transplantation after conditioning therapy for mixed cancers
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; pegfilgrastim, single… showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (any severity) compared with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; filgrastim, multiple…; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Survival · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Survival not reported.
0 studies
No studies found
Salivary flow rate · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral mucositis (moderate to severe) · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
Epidermal growth factor (EGF), oral spray showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (moderate to severe) compared with placebo; GRADE not reported.
2 findings from 1 review
Oral mucositis (any severity) · Children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia receiving chemotherapy alone
Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), intravenous led to lower oral mucositis (any severity) compared with chlorhexidine mouthwash; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Dysgeusia (grade >= 2, 0-4 scale) · Patients receiving radiotherapy on its own or in addition to chemotherapy to the head and neck region
Amifostine led to lower dysgeusia (grade >= 2, 0-4 scale) compared with no treatment/placebo; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review