Effect of cepharanthine and Z-100 against complications during preoperative chemoradiotherapy for oral cancer

Abstract Cepharanthine and Z-100 have been used for radiation leukopenia. But there is no report that they are applied in preoperative chemoradiotherapy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of cepharanthine and Z-100 against complications such as myelosuppression, oral mucositis and xerostomia during preoperative chemoradiotherapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) retrospectively. Between April 2008 and March 2013, 38 OSCC patients (27 males and 11 females) received preoperative chemoradiotherapy. One male and one female stopped on the way due to severe oral mucositis. As we started to use cepharanthine and Z-100 simultaneously since January 2010, 18 patients received neither cepharanthine nor Z-100 between April 2008 and December 2009 (Group A). Between January 2010 and March 2013, 18 patients received both cepharanthine (6 mg per day) and Z-100 (20 μg, twice a week) during radiotherapy (Group B). There is no significant difference of maintenance rate of blood cell counts. But patients of Group B had milder oral mucositis ( p  = 0.0045) and milder xerostomia ( p  = 0.010) than those of Group A. These results indicate that it is difficult against myelosuppression with low dose and short period of cepharantine and Z-100 in preoperative chemoradiotherapy. However, they lead mild mucositis and xerostomia. This is a great help to accomplish preoperative chemoradiotherapy.