The phenotype and value of nerve conduction studies in measuring chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: A secondary analysis of pooled data

Purpose: Nerve conduction studies (NCS) have been suggested as gold standard for diagnosing and monitoring peripheral neuropathies. However, its value in measuring chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is not clearly understood. Our study aimed to examine the role and performance of NCS in CIPN assessment through a secondary analysis. Methods: Pooled data pertaining to NCS, clinical examination, symptoms, and quality of life from patients with cancer enrolled in five studies were used. These patients had received taxane- or oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. The data were grouped in cohorts of before initiation of chemotherapy, during chemotherapy, at the end of chemotherapy, and at recovery stage according to the time points of assessment in the original studies. Results: Data was available from a total of 84 patients (74 females and 10 males) and a total of 160 NCS assessments. NCS results confirmed that damage of sensory nerves is more profound than motor nerves in patients at different stages of neurotoxic chemotherapy. No strong correlation was identified between NCS parameters and clinical examination outcomes as well as patient-reported symptoms and quality of life. NCS did not perform well in discriminating clinically relevant CIPN (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.51–0.77). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that NCS may have limited value in diagnosing CIPN. Future prospective studies with baseline values are needed to clarify our tentative conclusions.