Prophylactic management for taxane-induced nail toxicity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy of cryotherapy and nail solution (NS) use in preventing nail toxicity (NT) induced by taxane-based chemotherapy. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov registry databases were searched for relevant studies published up to December 2018. The primary outcome was taxane-induced NT. Secondary outcomes were skin toxicity (ST), time to toxicity and patient comfort. RESULTS: We reviewed three randomised control trials and six prospective studies with 708 patients. For meta-analysis, taxane-induced NT grading was compared. NT and ST were significantly lower in the cryotherapy patients than in the controls (grade 1 NT: risk ratio [RR] = 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30-0.89; grade 2-3 NT: RR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.11-1.12; total NT: RR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.30-0.79; ST: RR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.33-0.64). The NS-treated patients exhibited significantly lower NT than the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Nail solution-treated or cryotherapy patients exhibited lower NT incidence and severity associated with taxane-based chemotherapy than the controls. For patients who can afford and comply with NS use or cryotherapy, these measures represent effective prophylactic management for taxane-induced NT and improve their quality of life and functional statuses. Further studies are needed to establish the routine usage protocols, long-term efficacy and safety for these interventions.

Vitamins and minerals: their role in nail health and disease.

Nail health and appearance are global concerns. We investigated the use of biotin vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin A, retinoids, retinol, retinal, silicon, zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) in nail health and disease. The evidence that we adduce in this paper suggests that: 1) proper nail care seems to help maintain nail health; 2) no evidence supports the use of vitamin supplementation with vitamin E, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin A, retinoids, retinol, retinal, silicon, zinc, iron, copper, selenium, or vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) for improving the nail health of well-nourished patients or improving the appearance of nails affected by pathologic disease; and 3) brittle nail syndrome appears to abate with supplementation with a 2.5-mg dose of biotin daily or a 10-mg dose of silicon daily, a useful form of which is choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid.