ReviewCureus2025
The Role of Salivary Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8, and Epidermal Growth Factor in Radiotherapy Outcomes in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: A Review of the Literature.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- LncRNA CXCL8-203 down-regulates IL-8 and enhance the radiosensitivity of Siha cells in cervical cancer.Scientific reports · 2026Article
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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Head and neck cancer (HNC) comprises a heterogeneous group of tumors and is a significant malignancy worldwide. Radiotherapy is a treatment option for HNC patients and is known to elevate pre-inflammatory cytokines. However, cytokines in saliva are not widely studied in HNC patients after radiotherapy. The aim of this literature review is to examine the association of the most frequently analyzed salivary cytokines pre- and post radiotherapy in HNC patients, with the outcomes of the treatment. An analytic search was conducted for this literature review on PubMed and Embase databases. Specific combinations of keywords were used, including salivary cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), epidermal growth factor (EGF), head and neck cancer, and radiotherapy. Several studies showed an increase in salivary IL-6 and IL-8 post treatment. It was associated with worse oral mucositis, severe toxicity, and treatment outcome. Salivary EGF was decreased post radiotherapy in most cases, and was correlated with worse oral mucositis. A minimally invasive technique, such as salivary sampling, could serve as a baseline prognostic tool. Salivary cytokines may predict which patients will develop severe toxicity, severe oral mucositis, or allow earlier prognosis in the radiotherapy course and outcome.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.