Effectiveness of palifermin in the prevention of oral mucositis in patients with haematological cancers

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of palifermin for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients with haematological cancers.

Method

Retrospective observational study of cohorts of patients with haematological cancer undergoing cytotoxic therapy causing hematopoietic ablation. The main variable assessed was the duration of the oral mucositis. Secondary variables assessed were incidence of mucositis, febrile or septic neutropenia and the administration of opioids and parenteral nutrition.

Results

We included 36 patients in this study, 11 in the group that received palifermin and 25 in the control group. The duration of oral mucositis was 4.6 ± 3.1 days (median: 5 days) in the patients treated with palifermin in comparison with 7.4 ± 4.0 days (median: 6 days) in patients treated with conventional prophylactic therapy (P < .05). However, no significant differences were seen in the incidence of mucositis, febrile or septic neutropenia, opioid administration of the use of parenteral nutrition.

Conclusions

Prophylactic treatment with palifermin reduces the duration of oral mucosities in patients with haematological cancer. Further studies are necessary with larger samples to be able to assess palifermin and its influence on other variables, such as incidence of mucositis, sepsis, febrile neutropenia, etc.