Boosting Antioxidant Defense: The Effect of Astaxantin on Superoxidase Dismutase and Malondialdehyde Reduction in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Receiving Cisplatin Chemotherapy

Background: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) can be decreased and malondialdehyde (MDA) can be increased in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) as a result of reactive oxygen species (ROS) brought on by cisplatin. Astaxanthin is one of the external antioxidants required to combat ROS by raising SOD and lowering MDA. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that astaxanthin can raise SOD and lower MDA in patients with HNC caused by cisplatin. Methods: 42 research subjects were randomly assigned to two groups in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial pre-post test design. Astaxanthin 4 mg BID was administered to the treatment group, whereas a single dosage of 500 mg of vitamin C and 250 mg of vitamin E IU was given to the control group. According to the Mann Whitney test, if p < 0.05, there is a significant difference in the delta of the decrease in SOD and MDA levels between the astaxanthin and vitamin C & E groups. Results: There were 42 research subjects, with a mean age of 48.2 years, a 2:1 male to female ratio, 23 (54.8%) with nasopharyngeal cancer, 32 (76.2%) with stage IV, 14 (33.3%) with cycle IV, 24 (57.1%) with paclitaxel-Cisplatin, 31 (73.8%) with Eastern Cooperative Oncological Group (ECOG) I, and 31 (73.8%) with Normal Body Mass Index. While there was a substantial drop in MDA (p=0.000), there was no significant difference in the delta reduction in SOD (p=0.443). Conclusion: Patients with HNC who receive cisplatin chemotherapy can have an increase in SOD and a decrease in MDA after receiving astaxanthin for 21 days.