Mortimer, J.E., Lauman, M.K., Tan, B., Dempsey, C.L., Shillington, A.C., & Hutchins, K.S. (2003). Pyridoxine treatment and prevention of hand-and-foot syndrome in patients receiving capecitabine. Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice, 9, 161–166.
To evaluate the effectiveness of oral pyridoxine for preventing and treating palmar plantar erythrodysesthesia (PPE) associated with capecitabine
Of the patients receiving oral pyridoxine, 73 patients (74%) received it as prophylaxis, and the remainder (26%) received it as acute hand-foot syndrome (HFS) treatment. The median dose of pyridoxine was 200 mg/m2.
The data did not support that vitamin B6 prophylaxis prevented overall PPE incidence in a greater proportion of patients compared with those who did not receive prophylaxis (60% versus 53%). However, when used as treatment, a greater proportion of patients receiving vitamin B6 reported symptom improvement (65% versus 12%, p < 0.001).
Pyridoxine is not recommended for prophylaxis but may provide some relief for patients with acute HFS.