Creatinine clearance rate and nerve conduction velocity are effective in objectively assessing oxaliplatin-neuropathy in patients with colorectal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of using creatinine clearance rate (CCr) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) study in objectively assessing oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy, a study was performed.

METHODOLOGY: Sixty-eight patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal carcinoma were enrolled. FOLFOX-4 regimen was administrated as first-line chemotherapy. Patients were divided into CCr-impaired (60-80mL/min) and CCr-fair (>80mL/min) groups before treatment. NCV was examined accordingly, and the correlations of CCr and NCV with oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy were analyzed.

RESULTS

An excellent correlation was identified in impaired CCr and the severity of neurological symptoms (p<0.01). Nine (47.3%) CCr-impaired patients developed severe (grade 3 or 4) neuropathy and only 5 (10.2%) CCr-fair patients developed grade 3/4 neuropathy. A good correlation was found in NCV abnormalities and the severity of neuropathy, too (p<0.01). Thirteen (33.3%) patients with impaired NCV developed grade 3/4 neuropathy but only one (3.4%) patient with normal NCV had grade 3/4 neuropathy. However, there remained 26 (66.7%) NCV-impaired patients who had no or only mild neurological symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that CCr and NCV correlate well with the severity of neurological symptoms in colorectal cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. The additions of CCr and NCV, to a precise physical examination, are helpful in objectively assessing oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy.