The Clinical Research Of The Effect Of Actovegin In Prevention Of Acute Radiation Esophagitis

Objective:To evaluate the effect of actovegin,which is a proteinfree hemodialysate got out from calf serum,in prevention of acute radiation esophagitis.Methods:62 patients with esophageal cancer,lung cancer or thymoma were randomized into two groups:the experimental group(n=32)and the control group(n=30).Patients in the experimental group received radiochemotherapy and actovegin concurrently,patients in the control group only received radiochemotherapy.Various evaluations on the acute esophagitis,such as the radiation therapy oncology group criteria, Kuwahata's criteria,were used to analyze the clinical characteristics, the time of appearance,the time of suffering,endoscopic results of esophagus,and pathological changes of the mucous membrane.Results:The typical symptoms included odynophagia or dysphagia. According to RTOG criteria,the grade 2 or even worse acute esophagitis was found in 15.6%in the experimental group and 56.6%in the control group(P=0.0007).The mean VAS scores was(2.0±2.1)in the experimental group and(4.8±2.7)in the control group.The mean time of appearance was(16.2±2.2)days in the experimental group and(10.7±2.1)days in the control group,the mean time of suffering was(12.0±2.2)days and (25.6±8.4)days respectively.Grade 2 or even worse esophagitis was found in 10%in the experimental group and 66.6%in the control group based on the Kuwahata's endoscopic criteria.Conclusions:Actovegin can delay the occurrence of acute esopbagitis,decrease the degree of esophagitis and the time of suffering and so ensures the fulfillment of treatment.