The Effect of honey on the prevention and reduction of chemotherapy-induced mucositis in children with cancer

Background: Mucositis one of the common side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy in head and neck tumors, which can cause an interruption in the patient’s treatment and nutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of honey on the prevention of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in children with cancer.

Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, 39 patients that were treated with chemotherapy were classified into three groups: Groups I and II used natural honey, and normal saline, respectively as mouthwash, and control group only used brush to wash the mouth. Then, the presence and severity of mucositis, the remaining duration of lesions and other related characteristics were analyzed through a two-section questionnaire (demographic and clinical) and a checklist prepared from the protocols of World Health Organization (WHO) in the groups under study.

Results: Results showed that only one of the patients (7.7%) in the honey group involved mucositis. In the normal saline group, 10 patients (77.1%) and in the control group 9 patients (69.2%) suffered from mucositis. There was a statistically significant difference between the honey group and other groups (p<0.05). Further, 19 patients (48.7%) indicated no sign of mucositis.

Conclusion: the present study demonstrated the effectiveness of honey in reducing chemotherapy-induced mucositis in children with cancer. Further studies with larger sample and longer period of consumption are recommended to be conducted in future.