Purpose: Oxaliplatin in combination with infusional 5-fluorouracil/Leucovorin (FOLFOX) has emerged as the treatment of choice for advanced-stage colorectal cancer. Sensory neurotoxicity is its dose-limiting toxicity. We decided to use Gosha-jinki-gan for prevention of oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity following the report of Fushiki et al.
Methods: The subjects were 14 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Oxaliplatin (85 mg/m(2)) was given intravenously as a FOLFOX4 regimen. All 14 patients received Gosha-jinki-gan every day after first oxaliplatin infusion.
Result: 7 patients had grade 3 toxicity(neutropenia 6, thrombocytopenia 1). Sensory neuropathy occurred in 10 patients (71.4%). There was no neurotoxicity with functional impairment in this study.
Conclusions: Gosha-jinki-gan seems to prevent acute oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity.