TY - JOUR
AU1 - Lim, Ren
AU2 - Nik Nabil, Wan
AU3 - Chan, Si
AU4 - Wong, Yoke
AU5 - Han, Li
AU6 - Gong, Jia
AU7 - Ho, Kun
AU8 - Shew, Yee
AU9 - Xu, Li
AB - Purpose More than 80% head and neck cancer patients endured radiotherapy-induced xerostomia which impacts their quality of life (QoL). This observational study evaluated the effect of herbal treatment on head and neck cancer patients’ xerostomia and QoL. Methods Head and neck cancer patients were recruited from July 2016 till March 2017 at National Cancer Institute, Ministry of Health, Malaysia. All study participants continued their standard oncology surveillance. Treatment group participants addition- ally received Chinese herbal treatment. The assessments included unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR), stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR), and QoL questionnaire. Results Of 42 recruited participants, 28 were in the treatment group and 14 were in the control group. Participants were mainly Chinese (71.4%), stage III cancer (40.5%), and had nasopharynx cancer (76.2%). The commonly used single herbs were Wu Mei, San Qi, and Tian Hua Fen. Sha Shen Mai Dong Tang, Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, and Gan Lu Yin were the frequently prescribed herbal formulas. The baseline characteristics, USFR, SSFR, and QoL between control and treatment groups were comparable (p > 0.05). USFR between control and treatment groups were similar throughout the 6-month study period. SSFR for the treatment group significantly improved from 0.15 ± 0.28 
TI - Effects of herbal medicine for xerostomia in head and neck cancer patients: an observational study in a tertiary cancer hospital
JF - Supportive Care in Cancer
DO - 10.1007/s00520-019-4646-2
DA - 2019-01-24
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/effects-of-herbal-medicine-for-xerostomia-in-head-and-neck-cancer-VkFe0f08M0
SP - 3491
EP - 3498
VL - 27
IS - 9
DP - DeepDyve
ER -