Example Queries III

What helps against mucositis in cancer? (just selenium)

	Outcome topic	Results during intervention	Results after intervention	Overall RoB judgment
Jahangard-Rafsanjani et al. (2013): The efficacy of selenium in prevention of oral mucositis in patients undergoing hematopoietic SCT: a randomized clinical trial	Selenium	Onset of mucositis after transplantation comparable in both selenium and placebo arm; p=0.81	Overall: Cumulative incidence (grade 1-4) comparable in both selenium arm (83.8%) and placebo arm (81.1%); p=0.76; grade 3-4 mucositis significantly lower in selenium arm (10.8%) compared to placebo arm (35.1%); p=0.013 (grade 4: 2x in placebo arm, 0x in selenium arm) Mean duration comparable (p=0.048), only duration of objective mucositis from grade 2 to 4 and back was significantly shorter in the selenium arm (3.6±1.84 days) than in the placebo arm (5.3±2.2 days); p=0.014	high risk
Laali et al. (2020): Effect of Selenium on Incidence and Severity of Mucositis during Radiotherapy in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer	Selenium	Significant difference for incidence of severe mucositis at week 3: selenium arm 9.8% vs. placebo arm 42.0% (p=0.017)	After 7 weeks no significant differences between the selenium arm and the placebo arm for: mean duration of oral mucositis (grade 1–4) (p=0.27) onset of oral mucosits (p =0.31) recovery (day after radiation completion (p=0.80) cumulative incidence of oral mucusitis (grade 1–4) (p=0.79) Severe oral mucositis (grade 3 or 4) was seen in 25 patients in the selenium arm and in 20 patients in the placebo arm. Addition: Development of oral mucositis in patients with selenium levels >65 mcg/l significantly delayed from baseline (p=0.04, no further explanation given)	high risk
Mix et al. (2015): Randomized phase II trial of selenomethionine as a modulator of efficacy and toxicity of chemoradiation in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck	Selenium	NA	Overall: No significant differences between arms (grade 3 intervention arm 2x, placebo arm 3x, no grade 4)	some concerns