title: Assessment of epidermal growth factor in oral secretions of patients receiving radiation therapy for cancer.
abstract: Biological response modifiers have been studied in animal models of oral mucositis. We assessed the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) in patients during radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. The findings of this preliminary study showed that it is possible to measure the presence of EGF in oral secretions during radiation therapy. EGF was shown to decrease during the course of radiation therapy, and a trend was seen with decreasing EGF and increasing oral ulceration (P = 0.10) and increasing total mucositis score (P = 0.09).
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Emerton
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guglietta
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Le
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa; D019226:Oral Ulcer / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor