Hemoglobin Value Is the Most Important Factor in the Development of Hand-Foot Syndrome under the Capecitabine Regimen

Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a common side effect that has a high occurrence rate with capecitabine (Cape) chemotherapy. However, little is known about the risk factors of developing HFS under the Cape regimen. Our aim was to examine these risk factors.

A univariate analysis was used to determine the risk factors associated with developing HFS, and we calculated the effect sizes between the patients who developed HFS compared to those who did not.

Of the 52 patients enrolled in our research, 24 (46.2%) developed HFS. This group was significantly associated with hemoglobin (Hb) values (p < 0.001), and the effect size (1.21) was more than moderate. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis confirmed 12 mg/dl Hb as the best diagnostic cut-off value for developing HFS. The sensitivity and specificity were 75.5 and 88.2%, respectively. Patients who had Hb values of 12 or below who developed HFS had longer median times without HFS compared to patients with high Hb values (115 vs. 75 days, p = 0.30, hazard ratio = 1.42, 95% CI 0.73-2.76) and a greater area under the Kaplan-Meier curves (p < 0.05).

This research suggests that the Hb value is an important factor for developing HFS.