Factors affecting chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with breast cancer: a cross-sectional study...

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) affects a substantial proportion of breast cancer patients and can lead to treatment delays and impaired quality of life (QoL). This study explored the burden of CIPN and the factors that influence it in patients with breast cancer.

Convenience sampling was used from June 2022 to June 2024 to recruit women diagnosed with breast cancer at the breast surgery department of a large tertiary hospital in Beijing, China. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors linked to CIPN in a cohort of 130 eligible breast cancer patients.

The main factors associated with CIPN were age (β=0.35, P=0.004; β=0.60, P<0.001), monthly income ≥5,000 yuan (β=8.46, P=0.03; β=15.43, P=0.008), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER-2+) and hormone receptor negative (HR-) (β=-11.16, P=0.04), luminal B (β=-11.04, P=0.01), cancer diagnosis duration >7 months (β=10.71, P=0.01), and higher levels of anxiety (β=1.53, P=0.01).

Clinicians and nurses should actively monitor patients for factors associated with CIPN during chemotherapy. Although interventions to improve QoL and enhance social support have been linked to lower CIPN severity, their causal impact on CIPN occurrence is not established and requires evaluation in future longitudinal studies.