PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of zinc supplementation on the survival of patients after receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients were randomly divided into two groups; experimental and control. Patients in the experimental group received a predetermined dose of a zinc supplement, and the control group, a placebo. The 50 patients in each group could be considered homogenous with respect to medical histories, tumor characteristics, and therapeutic details. RESULTS: Patients in both groups appeared to have similar results for 3-year overall, disease-free, and metastases-free survival rates (p = 0.19, p = 0.54, and p = 0.35, respectively). However, patients in the experimental group had better 3-year local-free survival (LFS), although the difference was only marginal (p = 0.092). Another difference was that patients in the experimental group with Stages III-IV disease had a much better 3-year LFS rate when they received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: One impact seen was that zinc supplementation improved LFS at 3 years after beginning treatment for patients with Stages III-IV disease. It is imperative that these patients be followed up for a longer period to draw a definite conclusion.
RCT Entities:
PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of zinc supplementation on the survival of patients after receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients were randomly divided into two groups; experimental and control. Patients in the experimental group received a predetermined dose of a zinc supplement, and the control group, a placebo. The 50 patients in each group could be considered homogenous with respect to medical histories, tumor characteristics, and therapeutic details. RESULTS:Patients in both groups appeared to have similar results for 3-year overall, disease-free, and metastases-free survival rates (p = 0.19, p = 0.54, and p = 0.35, respectively). However, patients in the experimental group had better 3-year local-free survival (LFS), although the difference was only marginal (p = 0.092). Another difference was that patients in the experimental group with Stages III-IV disease had a much better 3-year LFS rate when they received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: One impact seen was that zinc supplementation improved LFS at 3 years after beginning treatment for patients with Stages III-IV disease. It is imperative that these patients be followed up for a longer period to draw a definite conclusion.
Authors: Jin Sun; James Liu; Xueliang Pan; Donald Quimby; Nicola Zanesi; Teresa Druck; Gerd P Pfeifer; Carlo M Croce; Louise Y Fong; Kay Huebner Journal: Carcinogenesis Date: 2010-11-19 Impact factor: 4.944
Authors: Louise Y Y Fong; Yubao Jiang; Maysoon L Rawahneh; Karl J Smalley; Carlo M Croce; John L Farber; Kay Huebner Journal: Carcinogenesis Date: 2011-01-18 Impact factor: 4.944
Authors: Erica John; Thomas C Laskow; William J Buchser; Bruce R Pitt; Per H Basse; Lisa H Butterfield; Pawel Kalinski; Michael T Lotze Journal: J Transl Med Date: 2010-11-18 Impact factor: 5.531
Authors: Shao-Gui Wan; Cristian Taccioli; Yubao Jiang; Hongping Chen; Karl J Smalley; Kun Huang; Xiu-Ping Liu; John L Farber; Carlo M Croce; Louise Y Y Fong Journal: Int J Cancer Date: 2010-11-09 Impact factor: 7.396