A Clinical Study to Compare BupiZenge With Lidocaine for Pain Due to Oral Mucositis in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

BupiZenge 25 mg: 1 lozenge as needed. Do not chew or swallow. Dosing interval: ≥ 3 h. Max dose/24 h: 8 lozenges.

Lidocaine viscous 2%: 10-15 mL as needed. Hold the solution in the mouth and distribute evenly, then either spit out or swallow. Dosing interval ≥ 3 h. Max dose/24 h: 120 mL.

Study summary

Most patients who receive radiation therapy for head and neck cancer develop painful sores in the mouth called oral mucositis. For many of them, these sores are severe and result in debilitating pain. The sores usually start in the third week of radiation and last aboutfive weeks, often continuing for two weeks after treatment ends. Current pain treatments, for instance lidocaine solution, only give short-lasting pain relief.

BupiZenge is a lozenge that dissolves slowly in the mouth and contains bupivacaine. Bupivacaine is a long-acting pain-relieving medicine and has been safely used for many years for both children and adults, and its safety profile is well understood. The BupiZenge lozenge is designed to give longer and more reliable pain relief for patients with mucositis in their mouth.

This study will check if BupiZenge works better to reduce pain than lidocaine, and if better pain control improves quality of life and reduces the need for strong pain medicines like opioids.

The main goal is to see how much mouth pain decreases after taking BupiZenge compared to lidocaine. This is measured by asking the patients to rate their pain score on a scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain). This is done at different time-points, from before the dose until three hours after dose on the last day of radiotherapy.

The study will include 150 adults, both women and men, aged 18 to 80 years, who have head and neck cancer and are scheduled to receive radiotherapy, with or without chemotherapy. These patients will be randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups. The first is BupiZenge, which is a lozenge containing bupivacaine, which dissolves slowly in the mouth. The second is lidocaine, which is a liquid solution for use in the mouth that you gurgle or swish around in the mouth.

The study begins with a combined screening and run-in period that can last up to five weeks. During radiotherapy, patients record their mouth pain each day using a number scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain). If the pain score is at least 4 (moderate pain) and they have developed mucositis in the mouth within 5 weeks, patients are randomly assigned to receive either BupiZenge or Lidocaine.

Treatment continues at least until radiotherapy is completed. If the patient has pain and mouth sores, and the treatment is working well, it may continue after radiotherapy ends, but only until the sores heal or for a maximum of six weeks in total, whichever occurs first. After treatment ends, there is a 30-day follow-up period.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Total pain reduction in oral cavity pain over 3 hours after taking study treatment on the last day of radiotherapy — From before to 3 hours after dose, on the last day of radiotherapy
  Oral pain will be measured using a 0-10 numerical rating scale (0 = no pain, 10 = worst possible pain). Participants will rate their pain before taking the study treatment and at several time points after dosing. These measurements will be combined to assess how pain changes over time after treatment and to compare BupiZenge with lidocaine.

Trial sites (11)