Efficacy of cooling + oral dexamethasone as primary prevention for hand-foot syndrome associated with liposomal doxorubicin

Abstract Purpose: Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD)-induced hand-foot syndrome (HFS) frequently lowers the quality of life of ovarian cancer patients. Wrist and ankle cooling, having a limited preventive effect, has been the commonest supportive HFS care. In this study, we retrospectively assessed the primary preventive effect of a combination of cooling and oral dexamethasone therapy (cooling + oral Dex) on HFS. Methods: This study is a single-arm retrospective, observational study. Recurrent ovarian cancer patients were administered PLD ± bevacizumab. We retrospectively examined the efficacy of hands and feet cooling (from the start of PLD to the end) + oral Dex (day 1-5: 8 mg/day, day 6, 7: 4 mg/day) for primary HFS prevention. Results: This study included 74 patients. The initial dose of PLD was 50 mg/m2 and 40 mg/m2 for 32 (43.2%) and 42 (56.8%) patients, respectively. HFS of Grade ≥ 2 and Grade ≥ 3 developed in five (6.8%) and one (1.4%) patient(s), respectively. The incidence of ≥ Grade 2 and ≥ Grade 3 HFS was much lower than those reported in previous studies. Dose reduction was required in 13 patients (17.6%) mainly because of neutropenia or mucositis; there was no HFS-induced dose reduction. Meanwhile, PLD therapy was discontinued mainly because of interstitial pneumonia (4 patients) and HFS (one patient). Conclusions: We demonstrated the efficacy of cooling and oral Dex as primary prevention for PLD-induced HFS. This combination therapy can be considered primary prevention for HFS in ovarian cancer patients on PLD.