Key result
ω-3 PUFAs significantly reduced the incidence of oxaliplatin-related peripheral neurotoxicity compared to placebo (52.22% vs 69.66%; P=0.017) in patients with colon cancer.
Why the study?
Does ω-3 PUFAs reduce the incidence and severity of peripheral neurotoxicity in colon cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin and capecitabine?
RCT (n=179)
Double-blind
randomly assigned
Does ω-3 PUFAs reduce the incidence and severity of peripheral neurotoxicity in colon cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin and capecitabine?
Absolute Event Rate: 52.22% vs 69.66%
p-value: p=.017
Omega-3 PUFAs significantly reduced the incidence and severity of oxaliplatin-related peripheral neurotoxicity and improved quality of life in patients with colon cancer.
Reduces oxaliplatin-related neuropathy incidence and severity in colon cancer; confirms neuroprotective effect and supports larger confirmatory trials.
BACKGROUND: Peripheral neurotoxicity (PN) is a frequent side effect of oxaliplatin treatment, and also is its dose-limiting toxicity. Studies have confirmed that ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) had a neuroprotective effect. However, the efficacy of ω-3 PUFAs on the prevention of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity remains unclear. We assessed the effect of ω-3 PUFAs on the neurotoxicity in colon cancer patients treated by oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine. METHODS: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 179 patients with colon cancer receiving oxaliplatin combined with capecitabine were recruited, and randomly assigned to take ω-3 PUFAs, 640 mg t.i.d during chemotherapy and 1 month after the end of the treatment or placebo. All patients were treated with chemotherapy for 6 treatment cycles. The incidence and severity of PN were evaluated, and the nerve conduction was measured before the onset of chemotherapy and 1 month after treatment. In addition, the quality of life was also accessed using Chinese version of European organization for research and treatment of cancer quality of life questionnaire. RESULTS: The incidence of PN in the ω-3 PUFAs group and placebo group was 52.22% and 69.66%, respectively (P = .017). In addition, there was a significant difference in the severity of PN between the 2 groups (P = .017). In terms of motor and sensory nerve conduction, the sensory action potentials amplitude of sural nerve in the ω-3 PUFAs group and placebo group after chemotherapy treatment were (15.01 ± 3.14) and (13.00 ± 3.63) μ V respectively, suggesting there was a significant difference in the 2 groups (P = .000). In addition, the mean score of the global health-status/quality of life was obviously higher in the ω-3 PUFAs group than that in the placebo group. CONCLUSION: ω-3 PUFAs seem to reduce the incidence and severity of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity, and improve the quality of patients' life, indicating it is expected to be a potential drug for the treatment of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity.
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Zhang et al. (2020) conducted an RCT in colon cancer (n=179). ω-3 PUFAs vs. placebo was evaluated on incidence of peripheral neurotoxicity (p=.017). ω-3 PUFAs significantly reduced the incidence of oxaliplatin-related peripheral neurotoxicity compared to placebo (52.22% vs 69.66%; P=0.017) in patients with colon cancer.
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