EXPERIENCE WITH VINCRISTINE - ASSOCIATEC NEUROTOXICITY

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency and severity of occurrence of vincristine-associatedneurotoxicity .Design: A retrospective case series studySetting: Hurlingham Oncology Clinic, Nairobi.Subjects: Thirty-eight patients treated for various neoplasms with vincristine containingchemotherapeutic regimens.Main outcome measures: The frequency and degree of neuroto:;icity when vincristine wasgiven at the standard dose of 1.4 mg/mZ.Results: Five patients (13.2%) developed peripheral neuropatl~y, one having had it evenbefore vincristine was started. Therefore only four (10.5 %'1 had it attributed to vincristine.Four of the patients who developed neuropathy (80%) were HIV-I ~ositive. Neuropathy grade2 (severe) occurred in only two patients leading to discontinuation of the drug. All theneurotoxicity resolved after discontinuation of vincristintConclusion: Vincristine induced neuropathy occurred but was ri~rely severe at a dose of 1.4mg/m2. It appeared to be more frequent in HIV infected individi als, but controlled studieswith bigger sample sizes are required to determine whether I his may warrant routinecapping of the dose at a maximum of 2 mg