Treatment of Active Mucositis With Caphosol (Calcium Phosphate): A Retrospective Case-Series

Mucositis is a common side effect due to chemo and/radiation therapy. Caphosol has been a proven preventive strategy against mucositis in randomized clinical trials. However, its efficacy to treat active mucositis in patients treated for solid tumors with chemotherapy is unknown. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Caphosol to treat mucositis by comparing the grade of mucositis before and after treatment and documenting the duration of treatment.

A retrospective review was conducted on consecutive adult patients at London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) who developed chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis and were then treated with Caphosol. This study was approved by ethics committee at University of Western Ontario.

A total of 21 patients, two males (one with cancer esophagus and another with lung cancer) and 19 females (all with breast cancer), with a median age of 59 years were evaluated. Grade 3 mucositis was present in 4 patients who completely resolved with Caphosol in an average of 4 days of treatment, without needing any hospitalization. Fifteen patients with grade 2 mucositis reverted back to grade 0 by using Caphosol for an average of 3.5 days. One patient with no effect had grade 1 mucositis dating prior to treatment with chemotherapy and remained as such. Another patient with no initial improvement had oral candidiasis and once treated with Fluconozole and Caphosol had a complete resolution. No obvious side effects were reported by patients related to the use of Caphosol.

Our case series, for the first time, shows that Caphosol may be used as a potentially effective treatment in patients with solid tumor, who develop chemotherapy-induced mucositis.