A paclitaxel-containing chemotherapy does not cause central nervous adverse effects: A prospective study in patients with ovarian cancer

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible effect s of a paclitaxel containing chemotherapy on different neuropsychological p arameters in women with ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight women with histologically documented epithelial ovarian carcinoma and trea ted with a combination chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel and carboplati n entered the study. The patients were tested with a battery of different n europsychological tests before, after 3 cycles and at the end of the chemot herapy. Results: Twenty of the 28 patients responded to the chemotherapy (7 1%). Eleven patients (39%) developed peripheral neurotoxicity. The median v alues of 6 tests performed before the first chemotherapy cycle scored out o f the normal range. These patients with deviant test results at the beginni ng of the paclitaxel/carboplatin. infusions did not deteriorate during chem otherapy. We found a statistically significant improvement of the alphabeti cal cross out test from the first to the third measurement (mean increase=4 .07; 95% confidence interval =[0.99; 7.15]) (p<0.05), indicating an improve ment of the short-term attention, the concentration and the constancy of wo rking during chemotherapy. The other tests failed to show statistically sig nificant changes during chemotherapy (p>0.05). Conclusion: According to our results, a chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel/carboplatin caused no sig ns of acute central nervous toxicity or neuropsychological deterioration.