title: Prevention of radiation esophagitis by polaprezinc (zinc L-carnosine) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who received chemoradiotherapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) plays an important role in multimodality therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. However, esophagitis often develops as a complication of CCRT, causing treatment delays and reducing the patient's quality of life. We examined the efficacy of polaprezinc (PZ), zinc L-carnosine used for the therapy of gastric ulcer, against the onset of esophagitis caused by CCRT for lung cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients who concurrently underwent chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel and thoracic radiotherapy at Gifu University Hospital during a period of January 2011 and May 2015 were the subjects of the present study. Patients received a mixture of sodium alginate solution and aluminum-magnesium hydroxide gel with (PZ group) or without (control group) PZ for prevention of radiation esophagitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PZ significantly inhibited the development of grade ≥2 radiation esophagitis (HR 0.397, 95% confidence interval, 0.160-0.990; P=0.047). In addition, PZ lowered the incidence of grade ≥2 esophagitis at the time point of 40 Gy irradiation (26.3% versus 63.2%, P=0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the incident rates of other adverse events associated with chemoradiotherapy between the PZ group and control group. Moreover, PZ had no significant influence on the tumor response rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PZ significantly retarded the development as well as the incidence of grade ≥2 esophagitis without affecting the tumor response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Komei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yanase
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan ; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Murakami Memorial Hospital, Asahi University Japan.
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Funaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Gifu University Hospital Japan.
authors.forename: Hirotoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Gifu University Hospital Japan.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Daizo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaito
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Junki
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Fumitaka
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Gifu University Hospital Japan.
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Gifu University Hospital Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Respirology and Nephrology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minatoguchi
keywords: Polaprezinc; concurrent chemoradiotherapy; non-small cell lung cancer; radiation esophagitis