A Comparison Between the Efficacy of Venlafaxine and Duloxetine in Improving Chemotherapy-Induced Chronic Neurotoxicity in Cancer Patients

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of venlafaxine and duloxetine in improving chronic neurotoxicity induced by chemotherapy in cancer patients. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on cancer patients undergoing outpatient chemotherapy or hospitalization in Rasoul Akram hospital. The admitted patients were blindly divided into two groups. The first group was treated with venlafaxine, and the second group was treated with duloxetine. The treatment lasted up until the patients’ full recovery up to 10 weeks. Different intensities of the patients’ neuropathy were measured on all days of treatment based on NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v 3.0 criteria. At the end of the treatment, the side effects of venlafaxine and duloxetine were identified. Results: A total of 30 patients in two groups (n=15 for each group) were treated with venlafaxine and duloxetine. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age and gender. The severity of neuropathy was significantly reduced in the venlafaxine compared to the duloxetine group from 7 to 10 weeks. The results indicated that 75% and 85.7% fall asleep in the venlafaxine group and the duloxetine group, respectively. Further, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of drug side effects. Conclusion: This study showed that venlafaxine is a suitable drug for the treatment of chronic neurotoxicity in patients with relatively fewer side effects compared to other used drugs. Although these results require further prospective studies due to the small sample size, future drug regimens may preferably contain venlafaxine.