They will be taking part in research to determine if Manuka honey can ease the effects of radiation therapy.
The study, based on a two-year randomised trial, will involve 120 patients in Dunedin, Wellington and Palmerston North who are receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancers.
Principal investigator, University of Otago senior lecturer in the department of radiation therapy (Wellington) Dr Patries Herst said mouth ulcers were a common side-effect from radiation treatment.
She knew of cases where patients could not speak or eat because their mouths were so painful.
Patients could lose much weight in a six-week treatment and the ulcers could lead to infection and gum disease.
Cancer patients already had enough grief in their lives and "they don't need this".
It was hoped that by swirling 20ml of honey around to coat the inside of patients' mouths three times a day - before treatment, immediately after and six hours later - ulceration might be avoided.
Small overseas trials in Malaysia, Iran and Egypt had pointed to the benefits of such treatment.
For the larger New Zealand trial, Dr Herst had chosen to use Manuka honey because it had been shown to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Special, medical-grade sterilised Comvita Manuka honey would be used to ensure the honey was toxin-free.
Those in the trial who do not receive the honey treatment will receive other medications, such as lozenges and mouth gels, as usual, while those swirling the honey will do so in addition to other usual treatments.
Dr Herst said more research could be done into ways of improving the quality of life for cancer patients.
Clinical trials tended to concentrate on extending life rather than expanding it, she said.
Dr Herst is also principal investigator in another radiation therapy department study using a type of burn dressing for women breast-cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.
The breast-dressings study, involving 40 women, which is being carried out in collaboration with the radiation therapy department of Dunedin Hospital, involves using thin inert dressings to cover skin reactions to radiation therapy.
Dr Herst said skin reactions showed up after about two weeks of treatment and could range from slight reddening to ulceration, making life most uncomfortable at an already difficult time in the women's lives.
Conventional treatment was to use a moisturising cream, but for many women this did little to ease the discomfort of wearing everyday clothing.
Preliminary results were promising, the dressings proving more effective in protecting the skin from further deterioration than the use of the moisturiser.
Dr Herst said the women used the dressings for a total of about eight weeks, including four weeks after their treatment ended.
Those who had already taken part in the trial had liked using the dressings.
Because the dressings, produced by Molnlycke Health Care and supplied by W. M. Bamford, were made of inert foam with a thin silicone layer, they did not provoke allergic reactions and easily conformed to varying body shapes.
It was hoped that the results of the trial would be analysed by August next year and that it might lead to a later multinational study, Dr Herst said.
