Findings

What do systematic reviews say?

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Evidence found and GRADE certainty

1,104 questions · 1,200 findings · 23 reviews · Oral medicine and oral cancer

No studies found 143 · 11.9%GRADE not reported 760 · 63.3%Very low 201 · 16.8%Low 66 · 5.5%Moderate 29 · 2.4%High 1 · 0.1%

Zinc vs placebo

Taste discrimination improvement · Patients with taste disturbances (dysgeusia/hypogeusia; idiopathic, zinc-deficient, or secondary to chronic renal failure)
1 finding from 1 review
  • Interventions for managing taste disturbances 2017 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Results: Matson 2003 used zinc sulphate for testing taste discrimination (sip and spit method); the trial did not report the details of the placebo group and thus the results could not be meta-analysed. Not GRADE-rated.
    1 study
    GRADE not reported

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin), intravenous vs placebo

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

GM-CSF vs placebo or no treatment

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

Pilocarpine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Amifostine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Amifostine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin), intravenous vs placebo

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

Amifostine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Amifostine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin), intravenous vs placebo

Adverse events · Adults with cancer receiving treatment
1 finding from 1 review

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; pegfilgrastim, single dose) vs Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; filgrastim, multiple doses)

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

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin), intravenous vs placebo

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

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), oral spray vs placebo

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

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF; palifermin or repifermin), intravenous vs Chlorhexidine mouthwash

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

Amifostine vs no treatment/placebo

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

Zinc supplements vs Acupuncture

Outcome not reported · Patients with taste disturbances (dysgeusia/hypogeusia; idiopathic, zinc-deficient, or secondary to chronic renal failure)

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

1 finding from 1 review
  • Interventions for managing taste disturbances 2017 · Cochrane All outcomes
    Authors' conclusions: We were unable to draw any conclusions regarding the superiority of zinc supplements or acupuncture as none of the trials compared these interventions.
    0 studies
    No studies found

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; pegfilgrastim, single dose) vs Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; filgrastim, multiple doses)

Normalcy of diet (total parenteral nutrition) · 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 normalcy of diet (total parenteral nutrition) compared with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF; filgrastim, multiple…; GRADE not reported.

1 finding from 1 review