Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the current study is to report our prospective experience on the prevalence
of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OXAIPN) in patients with digestive tract
cancers treated with oxaliplatin-basedcombination therapy. Materials and Methods: A total of 219 patients scheduled to be treated with oxaliplatin-basedcombination
therapy were prospectively examined at baseline and follow-up during the therapy between
November 2014 and December 2016. The incidence of acute OXAIPN was measured using
a descriptive questionnaire (yes/no question) based on sum of number of symptoms present
and NCI-CTCAE version 4.03 was applied to clinically grade the severity of chronic
OXAIPN. Results: Acute and chronic OXAIPN was found in 108 of 219 (49.3%) and 127 of 219 (58%) patients,
respectively. Out of 11 acute OXAIPN symptoms, the vast majority of patients manifested
cold-induced pharyngolaryngeal (63.8%) dysesthesias or perioral (61.1%) paresthesias.
Development of acute OXAIPN was predictive of subsequent development of chronic OXAIPN
(P = 0.0001). All the patients received a median cumulative dose of 780 mg/m2 (range:
130–1040 mg/m2). There was a significant correlation between the patients who received
the median cumulative dose and the development of chronic OXAIPN. The incidences of
OXAIPN in patients with median cumulative dose of ≤780 mg/m2 was 51/120 (42.5%) and
>780 mg/m2 was OXAIPN 76/99 (76.7%) (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: The current study results demonstrate that the vast majority of patients who receive
oxaliplatin-basedcombination chemotherapy will manifest acute OXAIPN that may contribute
to the development of chronic peripheral neuropathy on repeated courses of drug administration.
Keywords
Digestive tract cancer - oxaliplatin - peripheral neuropathy - South Indian patients
