Ho Chia-Ching, Shun Shiow-Ching, Chen Chiu-Hui, Chang Li-Lu
Department of Nursing, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, Taiwan, ROC.
Institute of Clinical Nursing, College of Nursing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, ROC.
Hu Li Za Zhi. 2025 Apr;72(2):66-78. doi: 10.6224/JN.202504_72(2).09.
Taxanes are essential chemotherapy agents for breast cancer treatment. However, patients frequently experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) during their course of treatment. Cryotherapy is a non-pharmacological approach that has been explored for its potential effects on preventing or improving CIPN. However, although several studies have reported on the effects of cryotherapy, no comprehensive review has been conducted to confirm its benefits.
This study was designed to investigate the potential benefits of cryotherapy in terms of alleviating CIPN in patients with breast cancer undergoing taxane-containing chemotherapy.
This systematic review was conducted using databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Medline, and Airiti Library, focusing on female patients over 18 years old with breast cancer treated using taxane-containing regimen. Key words searched were based on the PICO (patient/problem, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework, and cover articles in the literature published up to December 2023. In this study, the Jadad Quality Scale was employed to evaluate the randomized controlled trials (RCTs), while methodological index for non-randomized studies was utilized for non-RCTs.
The 11 studies used in this analysis included five RCTs comprising 198 patients and six non-RCTs comprising 1,930 patients. Five of the studies reported cryotherapy may help prevent CIPN, five reported cryotherapy may alleviate CIPN symptoms, and one study reported no significant prevention or alleviation effect.
CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Cryotherapy shows promise as a practical and safe method the prevention / alleviation of CIPN symptoms during chemotherapy treatment. However, the related evidence is inadequate, indicating a need for more rigorous studies to establish stronger evidence.
紫杉烷类是乳腺癌治疗的重要化疗药物。然而，患者在治疗过程中经常会出现化疗引起的周围神经病变（CIPN）。冷冻疗法是一种非药物治疗方法，已被探索其对预防或改善CIPN的潜在作用。然而，尽管有几项研究报告了冷冻疗法的效果，但尚未进行全面综述以证实其益处。
本研究旨在探讨冷冻疗法对接受含紫杉烷化疗的乳腺癌患者减轻CIPN的潜在益处。
本系统综述使用了包括PubMed、Embase、Cochrane、CINAHL、Medline和华艺数位图书馆在内的数据库，重点关注18岁以上使用含紫杉烷方案治疗的乳腺癌女性患者。搜索的关键词基于PICO（患者/问题、干预措施、对照、结局）框架，并涵盖截至2023年12月发表的文献中的文章。在本研究中，采用Jadad质量量表评估随机对照试验（RCT），而非随机对照试验则使用非随机研究的方法学指标。
本分析中使用的11项研究包括5项RCT（共198例患者）和6项非RCT（共1930例患者）。其中5项研究报告冷冻疗法可能有助于预防CIPN，5项研究报告冷冻疗法可能减轻CIPN症状，1项研究报告无显著预防或减轻效果。
结论/对实践的启示：冷冻疗法有望成为一种实用且安全的方法，用于预防/减轻化疗期间的CIPN症状。然而，相关证据不足，表明需要更严格的研究来建立更有力的证据。
