A five arm natural history study of nasal vestibulitis

Introduction: Nasal symptoms are frequently reported by patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: Eligible patients planning to receive paclitaxel, docetaxel, nab-paclitaxel, bevacizumab without a concomitant taxane, or “other” (non-taxane, non-bevacizumab) chemotherapy regimens were invited to participate in this prospective study. Patients reported nasal symptoms prior to each dose of chemotherapy. Results: The percentage of patients (95% CI) who reported nasal symptoms was the same for patients who received bevacizumab or nab-paclitaxel, 82.6% (61.2%, 95.1%). There were no significant differences among the proportions of patients experiencing nasal symptoms within the paclitaxel, nab-paclitaxel, and bevacizumab cohorts. Patients in the nab-paclitaxel cohort were more likely to experience symptoms than those in the non-taxane non-bevacizumab cohort or docetaxel cohort (p = 0.001, p = 0.001). Patients in the bevacizumab cohort were more likely to experience nasal symptoms than those in the non-taxane non-bevacizumab cohort (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Nasal vestibulitis symptoms are common in patients receiving chemotherapy, especially those receiving paclitaxel, docetaxel, and bevacizumab. Further investigations into treatments of this symptom complex are warranted.