Effectiveness of vitamin E on oral mucositis caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy: a meta-analysis

Objective·To examine, using a systematic review and meta-analysis, the effectiveness of vitamin E on treating oral mucositis caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.Methods·A systematic literature search was performed by using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, OpenGrey, Chinese biomedical literature database (CBM), Chinese national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, and China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP). The retrieval time was up to March 2022. The risk of bias was assessed by using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool, version 2.0. RevMan 5.4 was used for meta-analysis.Results·A total of 563 literatures were retrieved. A total of 7 randomized controlled trials were included. The results of meta-analysis revealed that vitamin E supplementation did not significantly affect oral mucositis caused by chemoradiotherapy (RR=0.44, 95%CI 0.15‒1.25, Z=1.54, P=0.120). However, vitamin E may have some effect on severe oral mucositis (RR=0.22, 95%CI 0.11‒0.43, Z=4.33, P=0.000).Conclusion·It cannot be explained that vitamin E can effectively treat oral mucositis caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but vitamin E may be effective for severe oral mucositis.