Protective Effect of Punica granatum Extract in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy

In India, head and neck cancers account for 30–40% cancers of all sites. Due to lack of screening program, wide variation in the availability of infrastructures and expertise, patients present at an advanced stage. The main stay of management of the head and neck tumours is surgery and chemoradiation. Radiation dermatitis and mucositis is one of the most common side effect encountered during the radiotherapy. Aim of our study was to study protective role of pomegranate extract on radiation induced dermatitis and mucositis in head and neck cancer patients. It was a prospective, clinical, double blind, case control study. 60 patients (30 active and controls) undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer were studied for 12 months. Patients in study group were given whole fruit pomegranate extract. Each capsule contained 300 mg of whole fruit extract, each capsule contains 40% polyphenols and 27% punicalagin. Each patient were given 2 capsules every day for a period of 6–7 weeks. The skin and mucosal changes was graded according to the acute radiation morbidity scoring criteria (RTOG) for skin and mucous membrane. The results were statistically significant. Pomegranate extract proved to be radioprotective. Our study is one of the first study in humans to demonstrate the effectiveness of pomegranate extract in preventing radiation dermatitis and mucositis.