Abstract
Purpose of Review
The purpose of this mini review is to evaluate the literature on B vitamins and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Recent Findings
One hundred and five journal articles were evaluated and nine manuscripts were included. There was one in vitro, one was an animal and seven were human studies. The in vitro study was a safety study on vitamin B6 and oxaliplatin which was not directly related to CIPN. The animal study evaluated vitamin B3 on paclitaxel administration with positive results. The human studies varied using a vitamin B complex, vitamin B12 only and vitamin B6.
Summary
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) continues to plague patients and the medical fraternity. Currently, there are still no conclusive protective or treatment options. B vitamins have been found to play a role in CIPN prevention, but further studies are required to ascertain possible protection and treatment options.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance
Seretny M, Currie GL, Sena ES, Ramnarine S, Grant R, MacLeod MR, et al. Incidence, prevalence, and predictors of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain. 2014;155(12):2461–70.
Wolf SL, Barton DL, Qin R, Wos EJ, Sloan JA, Liu H, et al. The relationship between numbness, tingling, and shooting/burning pain in patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) as measured by the EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 instrument, N06CA. Support Care Cancer. 2012;20(3):625–32.
Scott JWD. Folate/vitamin B12 inter-relationships. Essays Biochem. 1994;28:63–72.
Kancheria V, Elliot JL Jr, Patel BB, Holland NW, Johnson TM 2nd, Khakharia A, et al. Long-Term Metform Therapy and Monitoring for Vitamin B12 Deficiency Among Older Veterans. J Am Geriatr Soc 2017;65(5):1061–66.
•• Soloman L. Functional vitamin B12 deficiency in advanced malignancy: implications for the management of neuropathy and neuropathic pain. Support Care Cancer. 2016;24(8):3489–94. This paper highlights the importance of a functional B12 deficiency in peripheral neuropathy and neuropathic pain in cancer patients which is not always recognised.
•• Ghavanini AA, Kimpinski K. Revisiting the evidence for neuropathy caused by pyridoxine deficiency and excess. J Clin Neuromuscul Dis. 2014;16(1):25–31. Recognising the impact of vitamin B 6 supplementation on neuropathy is important as it is not normally highlighted in an algorithm associated with cancer neuropathy, although most nutrient supplements contain B6.
Shenoy AM. An asymmetric sensory polyneuropathy related to thiamine deficiency from a gluten-free diet. J Clin Neuromuscul Dis. 2015;16(4):224–6.
Vu TAJ, Ramos M, Flener V, Vanyo L, Tisman G. New assay for the rapid determination of plasma holotranscobalamin II levels: preliminary evaluation in cancer patients. Am J Hematol. 1993;42:202–11.
Schloss JM, Colosimo M, Airey C, Vitetta L. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and vitamin B12 deficiency. Support Care Cancer. 2015;23(7):1843–50.
Garg MB, Ackland SP. Pyridoxine to protect from oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity without compromising antitumour effect. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2011;67(4):963–6.
Hamity MV, White SR, Walder RY, Schmidt MS, Brenner C, Hammond DL. Nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3 and NAD+ precursor, relieves the nociceptive and aversive dimensions of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in female rats. Pain. 2017.
Wiernik PH, Yeap B, Vogl SE, Kaplan BH, Comis RL, Falkson G, et al. Hexamethylmelamine and low or moderate dose cisplatin with or without pyridoxine for treatment of advanced ovarian carcinoma: a study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Cancer Investig. 1992;10(1):1–9.
Rostock M, Jaroslawski K, Guethlin C, Ludtke R, Schröder S, Bartsch HH. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients: a four-arm randomized trial on the effectiveness of electroacupuncture. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:349653.
•• Hirayama Y, Ishitani K, Sato Y, Iyama S, Takada K, Murase K, et al. Effect of duloxetine in Japanese patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a pilot randomized trial. Int J Clin Oncol. 2015;20(5):866–71. Treatments for CIPN are limited, and this paper finds duloxetine statistically significant for neuropathic pain treatment.
Schloss JM, Colosimo M, Airey C, Masci P, Linnane AW, Vitetta L. A randomised, placebo-controlled trial assessing the efficacy of an oral B group vitamin in preventing the development of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Support Care Cancer. 2017;25(1):195–204.
Han X, Wang L, Shi H, Zheng G, He J, Wu W, et al. Acupuncture combined with methylcobalamin for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with multiple myeloma. BMC Cancer. 2017;17(1):40.
Schloss JCM, Vitetta L. New insights into potential prevention and management options for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2016;3(1):73–85.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Janet Schloss and Maree Colosimo declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Integrative Care
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schloss, J., Colosimo, M. B Vitamin Complex and Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy. Curr Oncol Rep 19, 76 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0636-z
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-017-0636-z