Today, the Grand Theatre hosted an oral presentation by Dr Rachel SJ Wong, of the National University Cancer Institute Singapore where she discussed the “Safety and Efficacy of Limb Cryocompression to Prevent Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients Receiving Taxane-Based Chemotherapy.” Dr Wong presented the latest results from the limb cryocompression clinical trials currently in progress to help prevent the debilitating and often dose-limiting side-effect of Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) in patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy.

Dr Wong updated the audience of the latest multi-centre trial results from Singapore, utilising the novel Paxman Limb Cryocompression Device, currently in development. The Single-arm phase I-II study from multiple sites in Singapore evaluated the safety and efficacy of a novel wearable limb cryocompression device.

Dr. Wong reported data from 47 patients that were included in the Singapore trial to date. A majority of the patients (79%) completed all planned treatments with cryocompression. Limb cooling was well tolerated at 11°C, even with concurrent scalp cooling (of which a third of the patients underwent concomitant scalp and limb cooling). More than half (57%) of patients completed all planned treatments without any dose reduction or delay of taxane chemotherapy and impressively only 8% of patients required dose modification of their chemotherapy drugs due to CIPN. Importantly 65% of patients did not experience CIPN, whilst 32% developed Grade 1 CIPN; 50% of which were transient. Only 15% of patients experienced clinically meaningful CIPN at the end of chemotherapy treatment with only 1 patient developing grade 2 CIPN

The study concludes that the use of limb cryocompression:

• is safe and well-tolerated in patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy
• can be safely administered with scalp cooling therapy
• shows promising data in preventing taxane-based CIPN with no significant change in sensory scores reported
• facilitates the effective dose delivery of taxane-based chemotherapy

A multi-centered three-arm randomized controlled study is ongoing in the United States of America - ICE-COMPRESS SWOG 2205 (NCT05642611).

Richard Paxman OBE, CEO of Paxman Scalp Cooling commented,” We are very proud to work with so many inspiring thought leaders from around the world who have such a shared passion to create collective impact. This year it is impressive to see so many presentations featuring cryotherapy for the prevention and management of adverse effects of chemotherapy treatment on the agenda at the MASCC/AFSOS/ISOO Annual Meeting. My colleagues and I were delighted to learn more, and ultimately together help patients access treatments that we know can have a real impact on their lives during and after cancer treatment.”

Fellow authors and colleagues, Dr Joline Lim, Consultant and Clinical Scientist at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, and Dr Aishwarya Bandla, Clinical Innovation Manager for Paxman in Singapore also joined Dr Rachel SJ Wong and the wider Paxman team in Lille. Furthermore, Dr Bandla was presented with the ‘2024 MASCC Innovator Award’ for her work in research and development of a wearable limb cryocompression device to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

About CIPN

CIPN is a severe dose-limiting toxicity of paclitaxel and docetaxel, which are both widely used drugs for the treatment of common cancers including breast, ovarian, endometrial, lung, and gastric cancers[i].  CIPN is extremely prevalent; rates of Grade 2 or higher sensory neuropathy have been reported at 27% in patients with breast cancer (BC) after 12 cycles of weekly paclitaxel and at 20-21% in patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer who received 6 cycles of 3-weekly paclitaxel and carboplatin.([ii], [iii], [iv]) CIPN has a profound impact on the quality of life for over 1.4 million cancer patients annually, often limiting daily functioning and motor activities, and can persist for years after treatment [v], [vi].  CIPN increases healthcare costs by approximately $17,000 per patient, with lost workdays for the patient of >50 days.

Patients can experience numbness, tingling, altered touch sensation, gait and balance disturbances, burning pain, thermal allodynia or hyperalgesia, impaired vibration sense, extreme temperature sensitivity, paraesthesia and/or dysesthesia. A patient experiencing CIPN symptoms may have difficulty performing daily functions such as walking, dressing themselves, writing, typing, using mobile phones, using utensils and other activities related to the hands and feet. 68.1% of patients can experience CIPN symptoms in the first month after the completion of chemotherapy.

At present, dose modification is the most successful approach to prevent worsening CIPN; however, there is potential for lower chemotherapy efficacy, which could result in poorer survival. There has been considerable emerging interest in non-pharmacological approaches such as cryotherapy and compression therapy. Since 2019, Paxman has worked in partnership with a Singapore research team from National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) at the National University Hospital (NUH) and the N.1 Institute for Health at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in developing the Paxman Limb Cryocompression System (PLCS), a portable limb cryocompression device specifically targeting prevention of CIPN in cancer patients.

 
For more information about Paxman’s ongoing clinical trials please visit:
https://scalpcoolingstudies.com/ongoing-clinical-trials/