Assessment of thyme honey oral gel for the prevention of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with breast cancer

Purpose Oral mucositis (OM) is a common complication of cancer treatment that has an impact on a patient’s quality of life and the outcome of cancer therapy. This trial evaluated the effect of thyme honey oral gel for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced OM. Methods One hundred ten breast cancer patients who received their first cycle of chemotherapy with adriamycin (60 mg/m 2 ) and cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m 2 ) were randomly recruited into two groups: group A were patients who followed general oral hygiene recommendations and rinsing saline 3 times a day, and group B were patients with similar protocol but supplied with our formulated oral gel to be applied 2 to 4 times a day. Patients were assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) oral mucositis grading scales and self-assessment daily questionnaire. Results The use of thyme honey was associated with diminishing incidence of OM grade ≥ 2 (95% CI, 0.12 to 0.90; P = 0.030), duration of OM (− 3.36 days; 95% CI, − 5.50 to − 1.22; P = 0.037) and delayed occurrence of OM grade ≥ 2 (95% CI, 0.10 to 0.80; P = 0.017). Conclusion Thyme honey can be considered as a prophylactic agent for OM and decrease the severity of its symptoms. Trial registrations This protocol was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials: registration number IRCT201506063106N25, on June 12, 2015; approved by the institutional review board at the Deputy of Research, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran; and approved by the Ethics Committee of Medical Researches of Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran—reference number 5936, on August 17, 2014.