Impact of Oxaliplatin-Induced Neuropathy in Patients with Colorectal Cancer: A Prospective Evaluation at a Single Institution

Oxaliplatin plays a major role in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), but is associated with the development of neuropathies. The main objective of the present prospective study was to estimate the proportion of participants with grade 1, 2, 3, or 4 peripheral sensory neuropathies according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (version 4) among CRC patients treated with oxaliplatin (adjuvant or metastatic, FOLFOX or XELOX regimens) at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke. Among the 57 patients so treated between May 2012 and April 2013, about 60% reported grade 2 neuropathy, at maximum, during treatment. About 25% of patients had to stop treatment because of neuropathies. In a subset of patients contacted approximately 22 months after treatment cessation, neuropathies persisted in 70%. Oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy affects a significant number of CRC patients and can influence the course of treatment and outcomes.