Efficacy of Phytotherapy in Oral Mucosites Induced by Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy Phytotherapy in OM really work?

Oral mucositis (OM) is a complication of cancer therapy. Because of the associated complications, patients with OM go through decreasing doses or until the suspension of chemotherapy treatment or radiotherapy of head and neck until the improvement of the clinical picture, with that, exposing them the progression of the tumor. Current treatments produce limited results and rely on oral cryotherapy using ice, low-power laser exposure and systemic administration of keratinocyte growth factor (Palifermin).The use of medicinal plants and herbal medicine in the treatment of OM is still little used, but with a tendency to expand and accept the pharmaceutical market. We can conclude that phytotherapy is an expanding market and that, although efficient, needs more research and better acceptance of oncologists and other health professionals. Also some mechanisms of action are still not well understood, therefore, studies are needed that evaluate the long-term effects, in addition to standardized clinical protocols that prove efficacy. An efficient natural product in the treatment of OM should have an anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, antioxidant and healing effect on oral mucosa. In this sense, the search for multi-herbs products can be promising, since the plants together can have superior synergistic effects to the isolated species. However, there are few products in the current market with this profile.