Gary --

The Quackwatch material on aloe vera noted it has been found to be effective for "minor burns." Most of the QW material was a warning on aloe products containing other ingredients, esp. colloidal silver, which as Gary notes is a no-no. Aloe vera gel is the major ingredient (80-90%) in most of the creams and gels prescribed by physicians for radiation burns, it seems unlikely that use in the mouth as a swish or rinse would be detrimental -- I am not recommending one consume it. There are, however, aloe "products" at health-food stores with stuff in them like the colloidal silver which should be avoided.

Anyway, in my book worth trying based on experience.

Also, I don't really agree with the notion that "everyone responds to treatment differently" -- if this were true then this forum would not be very useful as no one's advice would hold for another person. But as you read the many posts it appears that those with basically similar treatments face a similar suite of problems and are often aided by similar approaches -- thius the usefulness of this and similar lists.

Our oncology nurses feel that they can get an idea of who will do well (that is, make it through treatment with fewest side effects, not who will respond best re cancer control) and who won't based as much on attitude and compliance with self-care recommendations as on initial stage. Patients who take this on as a challenge and who do everything they can to help themselves seem to do best. Their experience matches well several studies showing optimistic and "involved" HNC patients doing better than pessimists.

Even if aloe (or similar minor therapies) are medically ineffective, the act of doing something proactive which the patient *thinks* may help can itself have a beneficial effect. Even if it is a placebo effect, placebo effects are real.

Gail