Phytochemical Tocopherols Inhibit Radiotherapy Side Effect of Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

By Kyle J. Norton

Head and neck cancer is a group of cancers found in the mouth, throat, larynx, sinuses, or salivary glands.

Most cases of head and neck cancer, at the early stage, start by the cell growth irregularly and disorderly on the surface of the inner lining in the head and neck.

At the advanced stage, patients may experience symptoms of a lump in the nose, neck or throat, with or without pain, a persistent sore throat that does not heal, trouble swallowing (dysphagia) and frequent and persistent coughing.

At this stage, cancer cells may travel a distance away from the original site to infect other healthy tissue and organs.

The exact causes of head and neck cancer are unknown. However, certain prevalent risk factors such as prolonged sun exposure, infected by the Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), poor oral and dental hygiene and occupational inhalants, long-term marijuana, and tobacco use and involuntary smoking are associated to the onset of head and neck cancer.

Dr. Kazuhiro Kobayashi in the investigation of the risk of HPV on head and neck cancer (HNC) wrote, " Infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of HNSCCs. It is now widely accepted that high-risk HPV is a cause of almost all cervical cancers as well as some forms of HNSCCs. HPV-related HNSCCs are increasing".

Osteoradionecrosis is a condition associated with bone death due to exposure to radiation or radiation treatment.

The death of bone cells is a result of radiation induce-damage of the blood vessel that supplies the nutrients to the bone.

Osteoradionecrosis is a rare side effect occurred sometime after radiation therapy has ended. The complication usually occurs in the lower jaw or mandible.

Tocopherols are phytochemicals of which many have vitamin E activity, belongings to the group of Lipids, found abundantly in butter, egg yolk, milk fat, some vegetable, and seed or nut oils, etc.

On finding a potential phytochemical for the prevention and treatment of cancer, researchers examined the effect of the modalities of the combination therapy of pentoxifylline and tocopherol in Vitamin E (PVe) against osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaw induced by radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients.

The study included a total of 110 patients in this retrospective study, which had radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck with a total of 450 dental extractions after radiotherapy.

According to the tested results of patients had taken PVe for a mean of 12 (24) weeks preoperatively and 14 (18) weeks postoperatively, PVe treatment in external beam therapy was given in 92.72% of the patients, and 7.27% and 40% of the patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy combination of chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, induced the development of ORN only in 2 patients.

These results compared to untreated patients was lower than that normally associated with dental extractions in irradiated patients.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "In patients undergoing dental extractions, after receiving radiotherapy of head and neck region, combination therapy of pentoxifylline and tocopherol are sufficiently effective".

Taken altogether, tocopherols use d in the combination of other medications may reduce the risk of radiotherapy side effects in the development of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaw in head and neck cancer patients. pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of tocopherols in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.


Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You. How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Prophylactic Use of Pentoxifylline and Tocopherol in Patients Undergoing Dental Extractions Following Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer by Aggarwal K1, Goutam M2, Singh M2, Kharat N3, Singh V4, Vyas S5, Singh HP. (PubMed)
(2) A Review of HPV-Related Head and Neck Cancer by Kazuhiro Kobayashi,1 Kenji Hisamatsu,1 Natsuko Suzuki,1 Akira Hara,1,2 Hiroyuki Tomita,2,* and Katsuhiko Miyazaki. (PMC)