Docetaxel-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Adjuvant or Neo-Adjuvant Chemotherapy

Background: Docetaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PN) is typically manifested as sensory and motor neuropathy. This study aimed to investigate the incidence, duration, and risk factors of sensory and motor PN and their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among breast cancer (BC) patients during the first year since starting docetaxel-based chemotherapy. 

Methods: We reported a secondary analysis of longitudinal data on docetaxel-induced PN and HRQOL among 127 BC patients. 

Results: Cumulative incidence rates of motor and sensory PN were 31.5 and 21.3%, while the median durations of motor and sensory PN were 6 and 13 weeks. A consistently significant risk factor for both PNs was a cumulative docetaxel dose of >300 mg/m2. A significant interaction between sensory PN and time was found for physical and social functioning, while a significant motor PN and time interaction effect was identified for physical functioning only. 

Conclusions: Motor PN was more common than sensory PN in BC patients treated with docetaxel. Both types of PN had a significant impact on physical functioning.