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Objective: This study aims to assess the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in patients undergoing potentially neurotoxic chemotherapy for breast cancer. Methodology: This is a longitudinal study to assess the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy at the Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás (HC-UFG). The study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of HC-UFG, and all participants signed an informed consent form. For the data collection, two instruments were used, namely, Sociodemographic Form and Antineoplastic-Induced Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (AINQ). The Microsoft® Excel 2007 was used to tabulate the data, and the statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS® for Windows® program, version 22.0. Results: A total of 30 patients were included in this study. The average age was 51.2 years, and the sociodemographic evaluation showed that the majority of the participants were married (60%), 46.7% had one or two children, 23.3% were unemployed, and the schooling time was 9.88 years. As for the analysis of the AINQ in the three moments of the study, there was no statistical difference between the use of chemotherapy, body mass index, and age for a higher incidence of symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. The prevalence of symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in the sample was 83.3%, with orofacial symptoms being the most reported (grades 1 and 2). Conclusion: The study confirmed the high prevalence of neurotoxicity symptoms related to chemotherapy, both acute and chronic. The persistence of chronic symptoms suggests that, if chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is correctly diagnosed, it will be possible to control it early, avoiding further damage to patients.

Objective: Chemotherapeutic-induced peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common side effects of breast cancer treatment. Such a condition impacts on quality of life and has repercussions in treatment. The aim of this study was to correlate, by literature review, the risk factors and impact of peripheral neuropathy in women with breast cancer treated with taxanes. Methodology: This is a systematic review to assess the risk factors associated with peripheral neuropathy related to taxane. The literature review consisted of searching the MEDLINE database. The terms used were “neuropathy” or “chemotherapy” or “breast cancer” or “taxane,” using filters in accordance with the inclusion criteria. Only randomized controlled clinical trials were included in the selection, with full text available in the database, in English, published in the last 5 years, with women above 19 years old with breast cancer. Results: Six trials were included in this literature review. In total, 3,026 patients were evaluated and the main outcomes were to assess the main risk factors related to the shortand long-term effects of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Bandos et al. showed 41.9% of peripheral neuropathy within 2 years after starting treatment. Quintela et al. showed that patients with telomeric shortening had more toxicity related to paclitaxel. Hagoiwara et al. showed that peripheral neuropathy influenced lower scores on the quality of life scale. Ciruelos et al. showed greater delay and dose reduction in patients with neuropathy. Lam et al. showed a rate of neuropathy grade ≥1 in 67% of women. Conclusions: The results include presenting symptoms of peripheral neuropathy before the start of chemotherapy, the cumulative dose of the taxane agent, female gender, advanced age, body surface area, and hyperglycemia predispose to taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy. The heterogeneity between individuals with regard to susceptibility to taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy can be attributed to individual genetic differences.