Temperature-controlled hand-foot cooling combined with compression prevents chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy (CIPN): A single center, prospective, real-world data collection

BackgroundChemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common adverse effect of taxane (Paclitaxel, nab-Paclitaxel, Docetaxel). CIPN could reduce long-term quality of life (Blackley et al, 2019) and result in dose delays, reductions or treatment discontinuations. Temperature-controlled hand-foot cooling (Hilotherapy®) prevents CIPN (Oneda et al. 2020&2021, Coolbrandt et al. 2022). Prospectively collected data of 151 breast cancer patients showed that cooling using 1st generation cuffs with 30 minutes post-cooling prevents CIPN ≥ 2° in 93,4% of patients undergoing taxane-based chemotherapy (Schaper et al. in prep.). The development of 2nd generation, combined cooling-compression cuffs, ensures even more effective skin cooling. This raises the question, whether cooling time could be safely reduced.MethodsWe used prophylactic cooling with 2nd generation cuffs as standard of care during chemotherapy without the recommended 30 minutes post-cooling, due to capacity issues, and investigated the efficacy of the 2nd generation cuffs regarding prevention of CIPN through surveys. Patients were stratified according to dosing schedule (q1w vs q3w). Follow-up data will be collected to report the sustainability of the results.Results181 breast cancer patients completed their taxane-based chemotherapy using 2nd generation cuffs without post-cooling. 169 (93,4%) patients showed symptoms of CIPN 0-1° and 12 (6,6%) of CIPN 2°. No patient reported grade 3 toxicity. Data collection is still in process and follow-up will be updated to examine the sustainability of the results.ConclusionsProphylactic temperature-controlled hand-foot cooling combined with compression (Hilotherapy® 2nd generation) without the recommended 30 minutes post-cooling effectively prevents the development of severe CIPN ≥ 2°.Legal entity responsible for the studyThe authors.FundingISI e.V. - International Senology Initiativ.DisclosureA. Kostara: Non-Financial Interests, Personal and Institutional, Advisory Board, Study Equipment funding: Hilotherm GmbH. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.