EGF Effective in Treatment of Cancer Patients’ Oral Mucositis

The research team of the Asan Medical Center in Seoul published a paper in an SCI-registered international journal. It says that EGF helps to regenerate damaged mucous membranes, increasing patients’ survival rates by over 30%.

The March 2007 edition of the International Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics ran a paper saying that Easyef, a novel bioengineered drug developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical for the first time in Korea, is highly effective in the treatment of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis.

The title of the paper by the Professor Lee Sang-wook-headed research team under the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Asan Medical Center is the “Effect of EGF Against Radiotherapy-Induced Oral Mucositis in Rats.”

In the study, rats were irradiated in the head region and were orally treated with EGF three times a day. On the 18th day, mucous membranes damaged by radiation recovered almost to the level of those of normal rats. In particular, the damaged mucous membranes of the EGF treated rats quickly recovered and were able to eat food. This led the rats that had suffered a weight loss by radiotherapy to gain weight and raised their survival rate by about 30%.

Professor Lee says, “Sufficient rest and good nutrition are important during radiotherapy, but since there was no treatment method for radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis, many cancer patients had problems with food intake, suffering pains.” He added, “Since EGF’s high efficacy has been proven in the treatment of oral mucositis, we expect that EGF will contribute greatly to the treatment of cancer patients and the improvement of their quality of life.”
 
Meanwhile, a research team led by Professor Hong Jun-pyo at the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Asan Medical Center in Seoul published a paper regarding the efficacy of Easyef, medicine for diabetic foot ulcers, in the Annals of Plastic Surgery, an international journal registered in SCI, in April last year. The paper says that 72% of patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers were completely cured with the application of EGF liquid and dressing materials.