Bacterial Decolonization With Mupirocin Ointment for Acute Radiation Oral Mucositis Prevention

Is bacterial decolonization (BD) with mupirocin able to alleviate severe acute radiation oral mucositis (AROM, grade ≥3) in patients undergoing radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma?This open-label phase 3 randomized clinical trial of 176 patients showed that BD therapy reduced severe AROM rate by more than half (from 48% to 23%) during radiotherapy. It also alleviated oral pain and swallowing difficulties and reduced oral colonization rates.These results indicate that BD is a promising and cost-effective strategy for alleviating AROM in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing radiotherapy.

Corresponding Authors: Tianzhu Lu, MD, PhD (ndzhlyy1941@ncu.edu.cn) and Jingao Li, MD (lijingao@hotmail.com), Jiangxi Cancer Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College, 519 Beijing E Rd, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330029, China.

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