Effects of Analgecine on Oxaliplatin-Induced Neurotoxicity in Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer

Background: As the third generation of platinum-based antineoplastic agent aginst gastrointestinal cancer,oxaliplatin is considered to be associated with severe sensory neurotoxicity. Acorrding to previous studies,vitaminE, intravenous Ca/Mg and glutamine may partly reduce the incidence and severity of oxaliplatin-inducedneurotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of analgecine for preventingoxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity in the patients with gastrointestinal tumors.
Method: In this study, patientsundergoing oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy were assigned to analgecine (experimental) group or controlgroup. Analgecine 6ml was administered once a day for seven days from the day of oxaliplatin treatment. TheNational Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE; version 3) was usedto evaluate oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity. The incidence rates and grade of neurotoxicity of patients wereassessed before and during (after four and eight cycles) treatment.
Results: Totally, 82 patients were enrolled inthis study, 42 in experimental group and 40 in control group. The occurrence of each grade neurotoxicity in theexperimental group was significantly lower than that in control group. The overall occurrence rate was 31% vs55% (P=0.043) after 4 cycles and 52% vs 75% (P=0.050) after 8 cycles.
Conclusion: Analgecine appears couldbe effective in reducing oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity and be applicated for patients with gastrointestinaltumors who would be treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.