Summary:potential for cell damage due to high local drug concentrations. 2,7Anticholinergic therapy decreases saliva production which may result in less oral mucositis. Oral mucositis is a dose-limiting toxicity of high-dose etoposide regimens. Since etoposide is excreted in saliva,The ability of anticholinergic drugs to protect the oral mucosa after higher doses of etoposide and after more prowe tested the hypothesis that the induction of xerostomia would reduce the severity of the mucositis. We longed administration of etoposide by continuous infusion is unknown. We designed a phase II trial of oral propanthe- We studied 31 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of a and schedule of ICE reported mild mucositis in 10 of nonhematologic malignancy. Each had evidence of chemo-46 (22%) (95% CI 11-36%) patients and severe mucossensitivity determined by a complete or partial response to itis in 36 of 46 (78%) (95% CI 64-89%). Propantheline an induction regimen. All patients had documentation of therapy had no protective effect on esophagitis and renal, hepatic, cardiac and pulmonary organ reserve. Each enteritis associated with high-dose ICE. Minor toxicities patient signed an informed consent form approved by the were constipation and asymptomatic tachycardia; institutional review board. major toxicities were palpitations in one patient and urinary retention in one patient. We conclude that anticholinergic therapy dramatically reduced the oral mucositis Conditioning regimen associated with high-dose etoposide and should beThe ICE regimen consisted of ifosfamide 3.33 g/m 2 i.v. h considered as a supportive care measure for patients 0-1 on days 1-6, carboplatin 0.3 g/m 2 i.v. h 12-13 on days receiving etoposide-containing regimens.