Neuropathic symptoms, quality of life, and clinician perception of patient care in medical oncology outpatients with colorectal, breast, lung, and prostate cancer

Purpose: We investigated how treatment-induced neuropathic symptoms are associated with patients’ quality of life (QOL) and clinician-reported difficulty in caring for patients. Methods: Data were obtained from 3,106 outpatients with colorectal, breast, lung, or prostate cancer on numbness/tingling (N/T), neuropathic pain, and QOL. Clinicians reported the degree of difficulty in caring for patients’ physical and psychological symptoms. Results: For all patients, moderate to severe N/T was associated with poor QOL (OR = 1.82, 95 % CI = 1.47–2.26, P < 0.001) but neuropathic pain was not (OR = 1.31, 95 % CI = 0.94–1.83, P = 0.114). Moderate to severe N/T and neuropathic pain were associated with increased care difficulty (OR = 1.49, 95 % CI = 1.27–1.74, P < 0.001 for N/T, and OR = 1.46, 95 % CI = 1.15–1.84, P = 0.002 for neuropathic pain). The association of neuropathic pain with care difficulty was most significant in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) (OR = 2.32, 95 % CI = 1.41–3.83, P = 0.001). Baseline neuropathic pain was associated with declining QOL in CRC patients (OR = 2.08, 95 % CI = 1.21–3.58, P = 0.008). Conclusions: Clinicians may experience increased care difficulty for patients of all cancer types with moderate to severe N/T or neuropathic pain; care difficulty due to neuropathic pain may be higher for CRC patients. Nearly half the patients of all cancer types with moderate to severe N/T may expect poor short-term QOL; CRC—but not other—patients with baseline neuropathic pain are likely to experience declining QOL. Implications for Cancer Survivors: About half of patients with moderate to severe N/T (any cancer type) may expect poor QOL in the short term; CRC patients with baseline neuropathic pain in particular may experience declining QOL.