Palifermin for the Reduction of Oral Mucositis in Patients With Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Participants underwent evaluations of oral mucosal (OM) surfaces (mucositis assessments) 2 times weekly throughout radio/chemotherapy, and 2 times weekly thereafter until severe OM returned to grade ≤ 2 or until Week 15. During each evaluation, the following anatomical areas were assessed: upper lip; lower lip; right cheek; left cheek; right ventral & lateral tongue; left ventral & lateral tongue; floor of the mouth; hard palate; soft palate. A trained evaluator documented the findings using the World Health Organization (WHO) oral toxicity scale according to the following: Grade 0 = None; Grade 1 = Soreness, erythema; Grade 2 = Erythema, ulcers, ability to eat solids; Grade 3 = Ulcers, requires liquid diet; Grade 4 = Alimentation not possible.

The duration of severe oral mucositis (OM) was calculated as the number of days from the onset of severe OM (first time a WHO grade 3 or 4 was observed) to the day when severe OM was resolved (first time WHO grade 2 or less was observed after last WHO grade 3 or 4). Durations of 0 days were assigned to those participants who did not experience any WHO grade 3 or 4 during the study.

Time to onset of severe (WHO Grade 3 or 4) oral mucositis (OM) was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier procedure.

Participants without an assessed event by the end of the acute OM evaluation phase were censored at the date of last assessment for severe OM.

The number of participants with grade 2 or higher xerostomia (dryness of the oral mucosa) at the Month 4 visit, graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v3.0 Dry Mouth/Xerostomia scale.

The average patient-reported mouth and throat soreness (MTS) score as reported on question 3 of the Oral Mucositis Weekly Questionnaire for Head and Neck Cancer [OMWQ-HN]): "How much mouth and throat soreness did you experience in the past 24 hours?" Participants answered on a scale from 0 (no soreness) to 4 (extreme soreness).

For each participant, an average patient-reported mouth and throat soreness score was calculated by dividing the sum of the MTS scores at each assessment by the total number of assessments.

The total dose of opioid analgesics (mg of intravenous [IV] morphine equivalents) used by all participants.

Participants with at least one reported administration of opioid analgesic (parenteral, peroral or transdermal) were considered to have received opioid analgesics. The total dose of opioid analgesics is the sum of all opioid analgesic administrations that have been converted to morphine equivalents.

Cisplatin was administered on Days 1, 22, and 43. An unplanned break in cisplatin refers to a delay of ≥ 5 days from the scheduled Day 22 or Day 43 cisplatin administration or a discontinuation of cisplatin for any reason.

Participants with a duration of 5 days or more without an administration of radiotherapy or who discontinue radiotherapy prior to completion of planned radiotherapy were considered to have an unplanned break in radiotherapy.