Photo Credit: istock.com, CreativeDesignArt
Both hand cooling and hand compression reduced the incidence of grade 2 or higher chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with breast cancer.
A randomized clinical trial that tested hand cooling and hand compression in patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy for primary breast cancer found that both interventions significantly decreased the incidence of grade 2 or higher chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, according to findings published in JAMA Oncology.
“Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common, dose-limiting adverse effect of taxane-based chemotherapies,” the researchers wrote. “Currently, there is no established strategy for prevention or treatment.”
The POLAR randomized clinical trial compared the effectiveness of one-sided hand cooling and hand compression for preventing CIPN in 122 women with breast cancer who were undergoing weekly neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy.
The study team randomly assigned patients 1:1 to cooling or compression of the dominant hand, and no intervention was applied to the other hand. Cooling was done using a frozen glove, and compression was achieved by application of two surgical gloves that were one size smaller than the tight-fitting size for 30 minutes before, after, and during chemotherapy administration.
Both Interventions Reduce High-Grade CIPN Risk
The mean age of the 122 patients enrolled in the study was 50 years. Among them, 21 withdrew. Of the 101 patients who remained in the final analysis, 52 were randomly assigned to cooling and 49 to compression.
Both interventions significantly reduced the incidence of grade 2 or higher CIPN, according to the study results. Among participants who used cooling, high-grade CIPN occurred in the cooling arm for 15 participants (29%) and in the other arm, which served as a control, for 26 participants (50%). Among those randomly assigned to compression, high-grade CIPN occurred in the compression arm for 12 participants (24%) and in the control arm for 19 participants (38%).
The effect sizes were 21.15% with cooling and 14.29% with compression.
Cumulative taxane dosage and the neurotoxic agent were the predominant risk factors for CIPN, the researchers reported. In addition, the study found a reduced global health status during and 6 to 8 months after chemotherapy in patients with grade 2 or higher CIPN.
“In this randomized clinical trial, cooling and compression were highly effective and significantly reduced the risk of high-grade CIPN,” the study authors wrote.
Create Post
Twitter/X Preview
Logout