Introduction: Oral mucositis is known to hamper the quality of life in patients treated for oral cancer. Many pharmacological agents have been tried and tested in its management, especially vitamin supplements including A, E and their combinations.Aim: A Meta-analysis was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of vitamins individually used for prevention or treatment of oral mucositis separately for chemotherapy, concurrent chemo radiotherapy, radiotherapy and Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) individuals. Materials and Methods:The literature study was done using PUBMED, MEDLINE, EBSCO, GOOGLE SCHOLAR and COCHRANE data bases with keywords vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B, vitamin C, Oral mucositis, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Concurrent chemo radiotherapy and Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation individually, from the year 1980 to 2016. Only randomized controlled trials were included. The data was extracted, tabulated and was subjected to statistical analysis with CI of 95%.Results: Among 201 subjects the analysis clearly demonstrated a male predominance to females in studies where male to female ratio was given. Out of 8 studies, 2 were studies in children and remaining 6 studies concentrated on adult population. WHO and NCI-CTC criteria were followed except for one study which used customised assessment. A meta-analysis was performed regarding usage of topical medication of Vitamin E group in all three cancer treatment modalities, which showed significant reduction in oral mucositis (p < 0.001). There was reduced oral mucositis in a small group of patients with Vitamin A when compared to controls. No information on the agent used for chemotherapy, the dose of radiotherapy and the type of tumours in 4 studies. Conclusion:Topical Vitamin E had performed better on oral mucositis than Vitamin E systemic administration. Though the efficacy of topical treatment with Vitamin A showed reduction in oral mucositis, it was evaluated in a very small sample which cannot be attributed to a larger sitting.www.jcdr.net Nallan CSk Chaitanya et al., Role of Vitamin E and Vitamin A in Oral Mucositis

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in breast cancer tumor invasion and progression. MMP-9 is a member of the MMP family and is also known as Gelatinase B or type IV collagenases (92 kDa) and possesses proteolytic activity against type IV collagen, a major component of the basement membrane. Our study aims to examine the association of Gelatinase B (-1562C > T) promoter polymorphism with breast cancer invasion and progression. The study involves 200 breast cancer patients and age-matched 191 healthy controls. The SNP-1562C > T (rs3918242) in MMP-9 promoter region was examined by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction and gel electrophoresis. The genotypes were determined and compared between patients and controls, and the influence of the polymorphism on clinicopathological data was analyzed. The T allele of the -1562C > T MMP-9 polymorphism was detected more frequently in breast cancer patients than controls (p < 0.001). Our results suggest the clinical importance of MMP-9 gene polymorphism (-1562C > T) in breast cancer patients. The study may also help in identifying individuals at risk of developing breast cancer.

Response was better in the study group but statistically insignificant, acute reactions were manageable, and there was decrease in drop outs due to completion of treatment at a stretch, but larger number of patients and longer follow-up are required to arrive at concrete conclusions.

No abstract

No abstract