Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), chemical nerve damage leading to sensation disturbances, is a known common side effect of many chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of cancer and can be a significant dose-limiting factor in chemotherapy treatment. CIPN can be intrusive and impair activities of daily living and health-related quality of life. CIPN affects up to 68% of cancer patients within the first month of chemotherapy, with 30% of patients still affected after six months or longer. A significant risk factor for developing CIPN is chemotherapy drug type and cumulative dosage; but other risk factors are also implicated such as older age, history of neuropathy, chemotherapy cycles received and symptom burden. While the risk factors for developing CIPN are becoming better understood, it is unclear why some patients recover from CIPN and others experience CIPN in the longer-term.
We wish to employ a longitudinal approach utilising Mixture Growth Modelling (MGM) to generate trajectories of CIPN patients and to examine what patterns of CIPN arise. Next, in view of the evidence presented above regarding psychological factors that may be involved, we wish to identify potential predictors of good vs poor CIPN response; in particular, if any stable factors such as neuroticism and catastrophizing are implicated. We also wish to investigate whether CIPN trajectories predict catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, quality of life and sleep. Sleep was chosen as an additional QoL measure as we found that a significant number of patients that we come across complain of sleep difficulties. Lastly, we wish to quantify the extent to which catastrophizing, anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between consistently high CIPN and QoL, and consistently high CIPN and sleep.
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