Radiation-induced salivary hypofunction may become a thing of the past.

Readers who know me or know of my research will recognize that for more than 30 years my colleagues and I have studied radiation-induced salivary hypofunction. We have tried to understand its pathogenic mechanisms (e.g., see Bodner et al, 1984; Nagler et al, 1993; Cotrim et al, 2007), develop new treatments (e.g., Fox et al, 1991; Aframian et al, 2000; Delporte et al, 1997; Baum et al, 2012) and prevent its occurrence (Vitolo et al, 2004; Zheng et al, 2011; Guo et al, 2014). So it was with special pleasure that I came across two quite different articles, each published in September 2015, which may help make the presentation of patients with radiation-induced salivary hypofunction a thing of the past in oral medicine practice before too long. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.