Methylene Blue for the Treatment of Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis during Head and Neck Cancer Treatment: An Uncontrolled Cohort

Simple Summary Severe pain from oral mucositis in cancer patients affects oral intake, thus disrupting the quality of life. This pathology is thus far not well managed with standard approaches. Although the biggest challenge in clinical practice is pain control, many efforts have unsuccessfully concentrated on prevention. Methylene blue oral rinse is a safe treatment for refractory oral pain in this population. The low cost of MB makes it potentially accessible to patients of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Pain from radiation-therapy-induced oral mucositis during head-neck cancer treatment is aggravated by concurrent chemotherapy and commonly fails traditional treatments. To explore safe and sustainable alternatives, we investigated methylene blue oral rinse to reduce radiation-therapy-related oral mucositis pain. For this, we conducted a retrospective observational cohort study in a tertiary-care academic care cancer center including 85 patients with refractory oral mucositis pain during radiation therapy for head-neck cancer. Changes in pain (scale 0-10), oral function burden (scale 0-6) and requirement for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement were measured. Among 58 patients, 60% received radiation therapy alone and 40% received concurrent chemotherapy-radiation therapy. Methylene blue oral rinse (MBOR) significantly decreased oral mucositis pain for at least 6.2 h (median + SD 8 & PLUSMN; 1.68 before vs. 2 & PLUSMN; 2.20 after; p < 0.0001) and oral function burden (3.5 & PLUSMN; 1.33 before vs. 0 & PLUSMN; 0.86 after; p < 0.0001). Eleven patients (19%) had percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes placed before using methylene blue oral rinse; subsequently, four (36%) resumed oral alimentation after methylene blue oral rinse. Two patients (3%) required percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes despite methylene blue oral rinse. Minimal adverse events were reported (n = 9, 15%). Our study showed that methylene blue oral rinse was an effective and safe topical treatment for opioid-refractory oral pain from oral mucositis associated with radiation therapy for head-neck cancer.

Automated summary

Severe pain from oral mucositis in cancer patients can be effectively reduced by using methylene blue oral rinse, which is a safe and affordable treatment. This study found that methylene blue oral rinse significantly decreased oral mucositis pain and improved oral function burden.