Chemotherapy-evoked painful peripheral neuropathy.

Vincristine and paclitaxel, two of the most effective drugs in the battle against cancer, produce a dose-limiting neurotoxicity that sometimes presents as a painful peripheral neuropathy. For the first time, investigators have been able to produce these chemotherapy-evoked painful peripheral neuropathies in the laboratory rat. These new models have already begun to elucidate the causes of the neuropathic pain associated with these antineoplastic drugs, which will now make it possible to search for effective ways to prevent and treat it.