SynthesisBMC oral health2024
Preventive effect of probiotics on oral mucositis induced by anticancer therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in BMC oral health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential Wound Healing Potential of Tonsil Parenchymal and Epithelial Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Derived Exosomes.Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Remodeling mechanisms and intervention strategies of the oral mucosal immune barrier.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Engineering probiotic consortia to improve chemotherapy tolerance and reduce toxicity in breast cancer patients: a new frontier in supportive precision oncology.Oncology reviews · 2026Review
- Nanobiotic-Enhanced Probiotics for Targeted Gut Delivery: Mechanisms, Therapeutic Applications, and Translational Challenges.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- Probiotic preparations in mitigating chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis: therapeutic efficacy, mechanisms, and clinical translation potential.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Microbiome dysbiosis and chemotherapy resistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Review
- The role of probiotics in controlling oral biofilm formation and mitigating oral squamous-cell carcinoma risk.Archives of microbiology · 2025Review
- Article
- Therapeutic Potential of Probiotics in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis: A Comprehensive Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Treatment Strategies for Cutaneous and Oral Mucosal Side Effects of Oncological Treatment in Breast Cancer: A Comprehensive Review.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Probiotics and Oral Complications of Antineoplastic Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- Probiotics and quality of life improvement in cancer therapy.Bioinformation · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOral mucositis (OM) is a prevalent and painful complication in patients undergoing anticancer treatment, which significantly impacts patients' quality of life (QoL) and adherence to therapy. The use of oral probiotics as a preventive strategy for OM has shown promise, but the clinical evidence remains inconclusive. This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aims to evaluate the efficacy of probiotics in preventing OM caused by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.
methodsA comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov was conducted up to January 31, 2024, to identify eligible RCTs. The primary outcomes were the incidences of severe OM and all-grade OM. Secondary outcomes included rates of anticancer treatment completion, clinical response, requirement for enteral nutrition, time course of OM, body weight loss, QoL, and adverse events (AEs). Risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
resultsA total of 12 RCTs involving 1,376 patients were included in the quantitative analysis. Probiotics administration significantly reduced the risk of severe OM (RR = 0.61, 95%CI: 0.53-0.72, P < 0.001) and all-grade OM (RR = 0.90, 95%CI: 0.82-0.98, P = 0.016) compared to the control group. Multi-strain probiotics formulations were more effective than single-strain probiotics in preventing severe OM (P = 0.011). There were no significant differences between the probiotics and control groups regarding anticancer treatment completion (RR = 1.03, 95%CI: 0.98-1.08, P = 0.198), clinical response to therapy (RR = 1.05, 95%CI: 0.94-1.17, P = 0.406), or the need for enteral nutrition (RR = 1.28, 95%CI: 0.49-3.35, P = 0.680). AEs related to probiotics were rare, with no serious AEs attributable to probiotics use.
conclusionsOral probiotics are both safe and effective in preventing and reducing the severity of OM in patients undergoing anticancer therapy. Multi-strain probiotics demonstrate superior efficacy compared to single-strain probiotics. Further research is warranted to confirm these findings and optimize probiotic treatment strategies for cancer patients.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.