Effect of Niacin on Side Effects of Bleomycin in Patients under Chemotherapy in Khansari Hospital of Arak

The history of using bleomycin in a hospital indicates a series of vast reactions in biological systems caused by direct and indirect effects. The biological responses of the biological system make this process more complicated. Increasing the prevalence and the incidence of cancerous diseases that are treated with bleomycin is of paramount importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of niacin on reducing the complications of bleomycin consumption in human model. This experimental study was done as case-control and double-blind clinical trial. Of the cancer patients referred to Khansari hospital in Arak that underwent the bleomycin monotherapy, 20 subjects were randomly selected and divided into two groups. Each person in the first group (control) received 2 placebos per day (every 12 hours) and the second group (treatment) were given two pills of niacin (each pill: 100 mg) daily, and the results were recorded and analyzed.
Findings: A comparison between treatment and control groups showed a reduction in nausea and vomiting in the treatment group compared to the control group. The sense of taste disorder complication was reduced in the treatment group compared with the control group and this difference was statistically significant (p <0.05). The results suggest that niacin can decrease the side effects of cancer treatment from different directions, including side effects, nausea, vomiting, loss of sense of taste, but its impact on respiratory problems probably because of the damage caused by bleomycin was not significant