ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Recognizing the symptoms of
vincristine-induced
peripheral neuropathy (VIPN) earlier is crucial to preventing the persistent neurological sequelae. The
treatment of neuropathy is to discontinue the
drug, and the effect of a missed
dose of
vincristine on
treatment success is unclear. This study aims to evaluate VIPN in
children with
malignancy and the effect of skipping
vincristine doses on the
treatment success of
patients at a single center, retrospectively.
METHODS:
Medical records of the
children with
cancer who received
vincristine in our institution between 2013 and 2020 were analyzed retrospectively.
RESULTS:
Vincristine neuropathy was found in 42 (7%) of 598 pediatric
patients who received at least one
dose of
vincristine during the study period. Neuropathy developed at a statistically significantly lower cumulative
dose in
patients younger than seven years of age (p=0.04). The mean neuropathy duration of the cases was 8.5 months, and the findings of 40 (95.2%) cases improved. The mean cumulative
dose was higher in
patients with diffuse nerve involvement. The missed
dose of
vincristine was lower in the cases
in complete remission compared to the other cases and higher doses of
vincristine were missed in the stable
disease group than in the remission group (p=0.03).
CONCLUSION:
VIPN can be encountered in less cumulative doses, mainly in the younger
age group. Missed doses of
vincristine may
affect treatment success, and more comprehensive studies are needed to show this effect more clearly.
