ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (PIPN) typically manifests as a predominantly sensory axonopathy. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) represent the gold standard method to quantify axonal impairment in PIPN. Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are emerging biomarkers for quantifying axonal damage in peripheral neuropathies. To date, the association between NCS abnormalities and sNfL levels during paclitaxel-based chemotherapy has not been specifically addressed. METHODS: We prospectively conducted longitudinal measurement of sNfL levels in 27 chemotherapy-naïve breast cancer patients and correlated conventional NCS recordings with sNfL in 22 of them, before (T0) and after (T1) 12 cycles of weekly paclitaxel-based therapy. RESULTS: PIPN was diagnosed in 24/27 patients (88%) after completion of the 12-week paclitaxel-based chemotherapy regimen. Serum NfL levels (pg/mL) were significantly higher at T1 compared to T0 (T0: 18.50 ± 12.88 vs T1: 255.80 ± 194.16; p < 0.001). The increase of sNfL levels at T1 significantly correlated with the decrease or abolishment of amplitudes recorded from the sural nerve (r = 0.620; p = 0.0035), sensory radial (r = 0.613; p = 0.005), sensory ulnar (r = 0.630; p = 0.005), and peroneal motor (r = 0.568; p = 0.024) nerves. CONCLUSION: sNfL levels proportionally increase during chemotherapy administration and significantly correlate with NCS axonal abnormalities in patients with PIPN. A multimodal testing approach employing both sNfL and NCS might improve the PIPN diagnostic accuracy.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases , Humans , Female , Paclitaxel/adverse effects , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/diagnosis , Intermediate Filaments , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Biomarkers , Neurofilament ProteinsABSTRACT
Validation and comparison of Breast Graded Prognostic Assessment scores in patients with breast cancer and brain metastases (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Middle Aged , Breast Neoplasms/mortality , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Brain Neoplasms/mortality , Brain Neoplasms/secondary , Neoplasm Staging , Prognosis , Quality of Life , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Confidence IntervalsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Brain metastases (BM) occur in 15-35% of patients with metastatic breast cancer, conferring poor prognosis and impairing quality of life. Clinical scores have been developed to classify patients according to their prognosis. We aimed to check the utility of the Breast Graded Prognostic Assessment (B-GPA) and its modified version (mB-GPA) and compare them in routine clinical practice. METHODS: This is an ambispective study including all patients with breast cancer BM treated in a single cancer comprehensive center. We analyzed the overall survival (OS) from BM diagnosis until death. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression model were used in the analyses. ROC curves were performed to compare both scores. RESULTS: We included 169 patients; median age was 50 years. HER2-positive and triple negative patients were 33.7% and 20.7%, respectively. At the last follow-up, 90% of the patients had died. Median OS was 12 months (95% confidence interval 8.0-16.0 months). OS was worse in patients with > 3 BM and in patients with triple negative subtype. CONCLUSIONS: In our series, we confirm that B-GPA and mB-GPA scores correlated with prognosis. ROC curves showed that B-GPA and mB-GPA have similar prognostic capabilities, slightly in favor of mB-GPA.