The overall death rate from cancer has been declining for more than a decade as methods to diagnose, treat and monitor the disease are improving. Chemotherapy, a medicine used to kill off cancer cells, is a common treatment. As many as 650,000 cancer patients undergo chemotherapy each year in the United States alone.
And although chemotherapy drugs are effective at thwarting cancer, they’re not always a precise tool. Chemotherapy can also damage healthy tissues, causing a myriad of unpleasant side effects. One of which, is oral inflammation. And researchers are looking into solving this uncomfortable problem with a simple, sweet solution.
Cells in the mouth and the digestive track are particularly vulnerable to chemotherapy-induced oral inflammation. Also known as oral mucositis, the condition is often characterized by ulcers and lesions in the mouth or gastrointestinal system.
Studies have shown that roughly 80 percent of patients who receive high-dose chemotherapy will ...
