Introduction: Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The head and neck cancers form the seventh most common cancer and a major health problem worldwide. Aims: To compare and contrast the role of Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (GCSF) given during weekends in reducing the incidence of oral mucositis in Head and Neck cancer patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly cisplatin. Materials and methods: This was a prospective two arm comparative study done in the Department of Radiotherapy, Total 70 patients of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancers who underwent treatment from the Department of Radiation Oncology from January 2015 to September 2016 were enrolled in the study. Results: Onset of mucositis in control group patients at 8th fraction & 10th fraction were 20% and 51% respectively. Majority of patients (51%) in control group developed mucositis in 10th fraction whereas majority of patients (63%) in study group developed mucositis in 13th fraction. This difference in the onset of mucositis was statistically significant with chi-square p-value of 0.000. This clearly indicates GCSF postpones the onset of radiation induced mucositis. Conclusion: Usefulness of G-CSF in reducing the onset as well as severity of chemoradiation induced mucositis in patients receiving radiation to head and neck cancers.

Keywords: Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor; Oral Mucositis; Concurrent chemoradiotherapy.