Treatment of oral mucositis in hematologic patients undergoing autologous or allogeneic transplantation of peripheral blood stem cells: a prospective, randomized study with a mouthwash containing Camelia Sinensis leaf extract

Oral mucositis is an important side effect of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCST), mainly due to toxicity of conditioning regimens. It produces significant pain and morbidity. The present study reports a prospective, randomized, non-blinded study testing the efficacy of a new mouthwash, called Baxidil Onco® (Sanitas Farmaceutici Srl, Tortona, Italy) in 60 hematologic patients undergoing HCST (28 autologous, 32 allogeneic). Baxidil Onco®, used three times a day from Day -1 to Day +30, in addition to standard prophylactic schedules, was administered to 14 patients undergoing autologous and 14 patients undergoing allogeneic HCST. The remaining 32 patients (14 autologous and 18 HCST) were treated only with standard prophylactic schedules and served as control. In our study, the overall incidence of oral mucositis, measured according to the World Health Organization 0-4 scale, was 50% in the Baxidl Onco® group versus 82% in the control group (P=0.022). In addition, a significant reduction in scale 2-4 oral mucositis was observed in the Baxidil Onco® group (25% vs 56.2%; P=0.0029). The results obtained indicate that incidence, severity and duration of oral mucositis induced by conditioning regi- mens for HCST can be significantly reduced by oral rinsing with Baxidil Onco®, in addition to the standard prophylaxis scheme. Since Camelia Sinensin extract, which is used to produce green tea, is the main agent in this mouthwash, we hypothesize that the anti-oxidative properties of polyphenolic compounds of tea might exert protective effects on oral mucosa.