Determination of the Relationship between Electromyography-Proven Oxaliplatin-Related Peripheral Neuropathy and Serum Uric Acid Level.

Introduction: Although different risk factors for oxaliplatin-associated chronic peripheral neuropathy have been identified and the predictive value of neuroinflammatory cytokines has often been emphasized, a clearly accepted predictive biomarker with economical, reproducible, and easily accessible properties has not yet been identified. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between serum uric level measured at the time of diagnosis and oxaliplatin-related peripheral neuropathy, based on literature information on the relationship between diabetic neuropathy and serum uric acid level.

Methods: In the study, 166 patients with colon adenocarcinoma, who were clinically thought to have grade 1-2 neuropathy in their follow-up after completing the adjuvant mFOLFOX6 regimen without dose reduction for 6 months, were grouped as those with or without peripheral neuropathy according to electromyography results. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and treatment-related characteristics, as well as serum uric acid levels at diagnosis, were determined as study variables and the groups were compared. Based on the presence of peripheral neuropathy, an ROC curve was drawn for serum uric acid level, cutoff was determined, and multivariable logistic (binary) regression analysis was also applied to determine independent risk factors that may affect peripheral neuropathy. If the p value was below 0.05, it was considered statistically significant.

Results: It was determined that 29% of the patients (n = 48) had peripheral neuropathy proven by electromyography. It was determined that the majority of patients with peripheral neuropathy were women, above 65 years of age, low body mass index, high body surface area, and smokers. While the serum uric acid level of all patients was 5.1 mg/dL (1.9-9.1), it was significantly higher in patients with peripheral neuropathy than in those without neuropathy (p = 0.0012). We found that ORPN may develop in patients with SUA levels higher than 5.96 mg/dL in men and 6.04 mg/dL in women at the time of diagnosis, and these cutoff values ​​had a sensitivity of 40% and a specificity of 95.40% in men, respectively, while the sensitivity in women was 84.6% and the specificity was 83.87%. In multivariable analysis, female gender, smoking, high body surface area, and high serum uric acid level were determined to be independent predictors for all patients.

Conclusion: Despite the limitations of the study, it was concluded that the possibility of developing oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy may be high in patients with high serum uric acid levels. This study needs to be repeated prospectively and evaluated in larger cohorts.