A common side effect of treatment for head or neck cancer is oral mucositis (OM). This condition can range from mild inflammation of the mouth and throat to severe ulcers that make swallowing extremely painful or even impossible. This can lead to weight loss and the need for parenteral (tube-fed) nutrition.[1][2]
There is strong and consistent evidence to show that honey improves OM.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][2][10][11][12][13][1] Typically, the effects are stronger in moderate or severe OM[12][5][13] or in people who received radiation treatments (as opposed to chemotherapy).[9] Honey was found to be effective for improving intolerable pain in OM,[12][5][7] interruptions to cancer treatment caused by OM, and weight loss due to OM,[7] and it may not be effective for improving mild OM.[7]
In studies which examined the relative effectiveness of honey for OM (i.e., how effective honey is compared to herbs like turmeric, or the usual care like iodine), honey was often one of the most effective interventions among the interventions studied.[2][10][9][13][11]