Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy management.

Abstract

154 Background: Neurological complications such as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and neuropathic pain are frequent side-effects of neurotoxic chemotherapy agents. An increasing survival rate and frequent administration of adjuvant chemotherapy treatments involving neurotoxic agents makes it imperative that accurate diagnosis, prevention and treatment of these neurological complications be implemented to minimize the burden experienced by patients undergoing these treatments. Methods: To determine the potential use of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and herbal medicines as adjuvants in cancer treatments a critical literature review was conducted by electronic and manual search on nine databases. These include PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and two Chinese databases CNKI and CINAHL. Thirty studies were selected for pharmaceutical agents, twenty-four studies for nutraceuticals and thirty-four studies for herbal medical trials. Seven acupuncture trials were also identified in relation to CIPN management. Data was collated and organised into chemotherapy drugs, agent’s trialled, number of participants, results and recommendations. Results: For pharmaceutical agents, amifostine has possible ototoxicity protection for children in cisplatin and duloxetine as a treatment option for pain. For nutraceuticals, vitamin E was found to have protective abilities for cisplatin ototoxicity, omega 3 fatty acids for taxane administration and vitamin B6 and lipoic acid for oxaliplatin CIPN. In herbal medicine, Goshajinkigan showed great promise for oxaliplatin-IPN protection. Vitamin B12 deficiencies have also been found to increase the onset and severity of CIPN. Conclusions: Currently, no pharmaceutical, nutraceutical or complementary agent has been found to be completely beneficial in preventing or treating CIPN. It is suggested clinicians identify the best option from the research to assist patients in both possible prevention and treatment of CIPN. In addition, research has found that a vitamin B12 deficiency may potentiate moderate to severe CIPN presentation and testing of this vitamin is suggested.