PurposeHead and neck cancers are the third most common cancers worldwide. Oral mucositis is the most common toxicity seen in patients who receive chemoradiation to treat head and neck cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral glutamine supplementation in these patients.Materials and MethodsFrom December 2013 to December 2014, we randomly assigned to two arms 162 patients who had squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Patients in arm A were given oral glutamine once per day, whereas those in arm B served as negative control subjects. All patients received radiotherapy given as 70 Gy in 35 fractions over 7 weeks with an injection of cisplatin once per week. Patients were assessed once per week to evaluate for the onset and severity of mucositis, pain, use of analgesics, and for Ryle tube feeding.ResultsWe observed that 53.1% of patients developed mucositis toward the fifth week in the glutamine arm compared with 55.5% of patients in the control arm at the third week. None in the glutamine arm compared with 92.35% of patients in the control arm developed G3 mucositis. Rates of adverse events like pain, dysphagia, nausea, edema, and cough, as well as use of analgesics and Ryle tube feeding, were significantly lower in the glutamine arm than in the control arm.ConclusionThis study highlights that the onset as well as the severity of mucositis in patients receiving glutamine was significantly delayed. None of the patients receiving glutamine developed G3 mucositis. Hence, the findings emphasize the use of oral glutamine supplementation as a feasible and affordable treatment option for mucositis in patients with head and neck cancers who are receiving chemoradiation.
Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) tumors are a distinct subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Synchronous appearance of adenocarcinoma and colonic MALT lymphoma in the same patient is quite rare. In the present report, we describe a 68-year-old female who presented with a history of bleeding per rectum. She had no history of fever, loss of weight or drenching night sweats. Rectal examination revealed no abnormality. Colonoscopy showed a large ulceroproliferative mass arising from the hepatic flexure, biopsy of which came out to be adenocarcinoma of colon. A right hemicolectomy was performed and microscopic study revealed the tumor type to be synchronous adenocarcinoma with lymphoma. The final diagnosis of this patient turned out to be a synchronous manifestation of both colonic adenocarcinoma and colonic MALT lymphoma. Although the patient remains asymptomatic two years after surgery, the case highlights the therapeutic dilemma that prevails in the definitive management in such scenarios.
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