Effect of diabetes on neurological adverse effects and chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy in advanced colorectal cancer patients treated with different FOLFOX regimens.

This retrospective study reports impact of diabetes on incidence rate of dose limiting symptoms of neurological toxicity and chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Post-surgical colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with metastatic disease, treated with four different schedules of FOLFOX were included in this study. Neurological adverse effects were assessed by CTC v2.0. The incidence rate of adverse neurological symptoms in CRC patients, clinically diagnosed with diabetes (n=6) were compared with non-diabetic CRC patients (n=32). The results show that the difference in the incidence rate of paresthesia is significant (p=0.043) between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. The difference in the incidence rates of hypoesthesia (p=0.445), peripheral neuropathy (p=0.889), dizziness (p=0.445), insomnia (p=0.690), taste disturbances (p=0.258), and headache (p=0.498) in diabetic and non-diabetic CRC patients was not significant. The findings indicate that risk of frequent, distal and transient paresthesia within the first few minutes of Oxaliplatin infusion is higher in diabetic CRC patients.