• Alex Molassiotis, Hui Lin Cheng, Violeta Lopez, AuJoseph S KJSKThe Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China., Alexandre Chan, Aishwarya Bandla, K T Leung, Y C Li, K H Wong, SuenLorna K PLKPSchool of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China., Choi Wan Chan, Janelle Yorke, Carole Farrell, and Raghav Sundar.
• School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China. alex.molasiotis@polyu.edu.hk.
• Bmc Cancer. 2019 Feb 8; 19 (1): 132.

BackgroundThere are inconsistencies in the literature regarding the prevalence and assessment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). This study explored CIPN natural history and its characteristics in patients receiving taxane- and platinum-based chemotherapy.Patients And MethodsMulti-country multisite prospective longitudinal observational study. Patients were assessed before commencing and three weekly during chemotherapy for up to six cycles, and at 6,9, and 12 months using clinician-based scales (NCI-CTCAE; WHO-CIPN criterion), objective assessments (cotton wool test;10 g monofilament); patient-reported outcome measures (FACT/GOG-Ntx; EORTC-CIPN20), and Nerve Conduction Studies.ResultsIn total, 343 patients were recruited in the cohort, providing 2399 observations. There was wide variation in CIPN prevalence rates using different assessments (14.2-53.4%). Prevalence of sensory neuropathy (and associated symptom profile) was also different in each type of chemotherapy, with paclitaxel (up to 63%) and oxaliplatin (up to 71.4%) showing the highest CIPN rates in most assessments and a more complex symptom profile. Peak prevalence was around the 6-month assessment (up to 71.4%). Motor neurotoxicity was common, particularly in the docetaxel subgroup (up to 22.1%; detected by NCI-CTCAE). There were relatively moderately-to-low correlations between scales (rs = 0.15,p < 0.05-rs = 0.48 p < 0.001), suggesting that they measure different neurotoxicity aspects from each other. Cumulative chemotherapy dose was not associated with onset and course of CIPN.ConclusionThe historical variation reported in CIPN incidence and prevalence is possibly confounded by disagreement between assessment modalities. Clinical practice should consider assessment of motor neuropathy for neurotoxic chemotherapy. Current scales may not be all appropriate to measure CIPN in a valid way, and a combination of scales are needed.

36 keywords...

hide…