Oral mucositis (moderate to severe) · Patients with cancer receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy or targeted therapies
Oral care protocol showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (moderate to severe) compared with no treatment/usual care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral mucositis (severe) · Patients with cancer receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy or targeted therapies
Oral care protocol showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (severe) compared with no treatment/usual care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral mucositis (any severity) · Patients with cancer receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy or targeted therapies
Oral care protocol led to lower oral mucositis (any severity) compared with no treatment/usual care; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Quality of life (xerostomia-related) · Adults seeking treatment for the symptom of dry mouth (xerostomia) due to any cause (e.g. medication, Sjogren's syndrome, radiotherapy,…
1 finding from 1 review
Unstimulated whole saliva (UWS) · Adults seeking treatment for the symptom of dry mouth (xerostomia) due to any cause (e.g. medication, Sjogren's syndrome, radiotherapy,…
Commercial mouthcare system (Biotene Oral Balance / Xerostom) showed no clear difference in salivary flow (unstimulated whole saliva) compared with usual care or CMC-based control; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
MD 0.02 [-0.02, 0.06]
2 studies
GRADE not reported
Dry mouth (xerostomia) · Adults seeking treatment for the symptom of dry mouth (xerostomia) due to any cause (e.g. medication, Sjogren's syndrome, radiotherapy,…
Commercial mouthcare system (Biotene Oral Balance / Xerostom) led to higher xerostomia (VAS mouth dryness) compared with usual care or CMC-based control; GRADE not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
SMD 1.11 [0.33, 1.89]
1 study
GRADE not reported
Oral mucositis (severe) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
Oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… probably leads to lower oral mucositis (severe) compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (moderate certainty).
3 findings from 1 review
RR 0.38 [0.20, 0.72]
5 studies · 270 participants
Moderate
RR 0.88 [0.61, 1.25]
1 study · 122 participants
Very low
RR 0.40 [0.27, 0.61]
5 studies · 444 participants
Moderate
Number of days of treatment with opioid analgesics · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
2 findings from 1 review
Quality of life · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
2 findings from 1 review
Summary of findings 2 (melphalan/HSCT): Quality of life - '1 study assessed this outcome but the data are currently unavailable as the study report and analysis have not yet been completed' (Toro 2013; measured with…
1 study
GRADE not reported
Summary of findings for the main comparison (5FU solid cancers): Quality of life - 'No studies assessed this outcome'.
0 studies
No studies found
Adverse events · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
2 findings from 1 review
Adverse events reported narratively: one study did not report adverse events (Askarifar 2015); another reported no serious adverse events (Toro 2013); the remaining two reported low rates of shooting pain from the…
3 studies
GRADE not reported
Adverse events reported narratively (not meta-analysed): one study reported no adverse effects (Katranci 2012); the other four 5FU studies reported low rates of very minor adverse events (headache, chills,…
5 studies · 444 participants
GRADE not reported
Oral mucositis (mean severity on WHO 0 to 4 scale) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
It is very uncertain whether oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… changes oral mucositis (mean severity on WHO 0 to 4 scale) compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral pain · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
3 findings from 1 review
Oral pain was assessed in this subgroup but the study (Kakoei 2013) did not report details of the scale used, so the data could not be used (no usable estimate).
1 study
GRADE not reported
MD -1.93 [-2.37, -1.49]
1 study · 80 participants
Very low
MD -1.5 [-2.11, -0.89]
2 studies · 85 participants
Low
Oral mucositis (any severity) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
Oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (any severity) compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (low certainty).
3 findings from 1 review
RR 0.59 [0.35, 1.01]
5 studies · 270 participants
Low
RR 0.61 [0.52, 0.72]
5 studies · 444 participants
Moderate
RR 0.98 [0.90, 1.07]
1 study · 122 participants
Very low
Number of days in hospital (duration of hospitalisation) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
2 findings from 1 review
Oral mucositis (moderate to severe) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
Oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (moderate to severe) compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (low certainty).
3 findings from 1 review
RR 0.43 [0.17, 1.09]
5 studies · 270 participants
Low
RR 1.01 [0.85, 1.20]
1 study · 122 participants
Very low
RR 0.52 [0.41, 0.65]
5 studies · 444 participants
Moderate
Interruptions to cancer treatment (incidence) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
2 findings from 1 review
Normalcy of diet (total parenteral nutrition) · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
It is very uncertain whether oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… changes normalcy of diet (days of total parenteral nutrition, TPN) compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (very low certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
Number of days unable to take medicine orally · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Duration of interruptions to cancer treatment · All patients with cancer who are receiving treatment
It is very uncertain whether oral cryotherapy (ice chips, ice-cold water, ice cubes or crushed… changes duration of interruptions to cancer treatment compared with control (no treatment or standard/usual oral care, e.g. saline rinse) (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral mucositis (any severity) · Patients with cancer receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy or targeted therapies
Sucralfate showed no clear difference in oral mucositis (any severity) compared with placebo/usual care (moderate certainty).
1 finding from 1 review