Purpose. One of the common side effects experienced by
head and neck cancer patients on
chemoradiotherapy is
mucositis. Severe
mucositis may be controllable by limiting
cancer therapy, but it has resulted in decreasing the completion rate of
chemoradiotherapy. The efficacy of
royal jelly (RJ) as prophylaxis against
chemoradiotherapy-induced
mucositis was evaluated through clinical scoring of oral and pharyngeal
mucositis. Methods. In this randomized, single-blind (physician-blind), clinical trial, 13 patients with
head and neck cancer requiring chemoradiation were randomly assigned to two groups. Seven patients assigned to the study group received RJ, and 6 patients were assigned to the control group. RJ group patients took RJ three times per day during treatment. The patients in both groups were evaluated twice a week for the development of
mucositis using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0. Results. A significant reduction in
mucositis was seen among RJ-treated patients compared with controls (P < 0.001). Conclusion. This study demonstrated that prophylactic use of RJ was effective in reducing
mucositis induced by
chemoradiotherapy in
head and neck cancer patients. However, further studies are needed because of the small sample size and the absence of double blinding.