Pace, A., Savarese, A., Picardo, M., Maresca, V., Pacetti, U., Del Monte, G., . . . Bove, L. (2003). Neuroprotective effect of vitamin E supplementation in patients treated with cisplatin chemotherapy. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 21, 927–931.
This study evaluated the neuroprotective effect of vitamin E in patients with solid tumor malignancy treated with cisplatin chemotherapy.
Patients were randomly assigned to either group 1, which received vitamin E supplementation during cisplatin chemotherapy, or to group 2, which received cisplatin chemotherapy alone. Vitamin E 300 mg per day was administered orally before cisplatin chemotherapy and continued for three months after the suspension of treatment.
Twenty patients dropped out of the study. Plasma levels of vitamin E were in the normal range and not significantly different between the two groups (8.06 and 7.17 mg/ml, respectively). Twelve of the 14 patients in the control group developed CIPN as compared to 4 of 13 patients who received vitamin E supplementation.
Vitamin E supplementation significantly protects against cisplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy and reduces incidence and intensity of neurologic signs and symptoms.