• 12/17/2005
  • Thiruvananthapuram, India
  • staff
  • New India Press (www.newindpress.com)

The research team of the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) and the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, headed by Dr Ramdas and Dr M Radhakrishna Pillai, has developed a mouthwash for patients suffering from oral cancer.

“Oral cancer patients suffer a lot after radiation treatment. The mouth gets burned and saliva formation comes down making the mouth dry. There will also be a lot of inflammation,” said Dr Radhakrishna Pillai.

The patients will have difficulty in swallowing and they have to suffer a lot of pain.

“There have also been instances when we had to stop the radiation in between. This mouthwash that we have developed is meant for such patients. It will definitely reduce their agony,” said Dr Pillai.

One major advantage of this mouthwash is that it is inexpensive. While cancer-supporting care is very expensive, this mouthwash costs less than 1 Rupee.

The mouthwash is non-toxic as it is herbal in origin. Developed from three plants, the combination mouthwash is awaiting a global patent for which the application has already been filed through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The formal clinical trials, randomised as well as multilocation trials, will begin as soon as the patent is granted.

“Once it is available in the market, the cost of supporting care for oral cancer will drastically come down,” said Dr Pillai.

The mouthwash helps in controlling bacterial infection as well as blister-formation in the mouth. Saliva formation has also been found to be near-normal in patients treated with the mouthwash.

While the herbal mouthwash does not have curative properties, it will definitely bring down the side-effects of radiation treatment and chemotherapeutic drugs.