Clinical evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment of the hand-foot syndrome – skin toxicity of antitumor target therapy with multi-kinase inhibitors

Background. The effective treatment of the hand-foot syndrome is a necessary component of the complex treatment of patients receiving antitumor therapy with multikinase inhibitors. Aims. The assessment of a new effective method for the treatment of palm-plantar syndrome in patients receiving multi-kinase inhibitors. Materials and methods. There are 27 patients received antitumor treatment with multi-kinase inhibitors and had clinical manifestations of the hand-foot syndrome (HFS) for observation. The main group (14 patients) used a combination of an alpha-lipoic acid at a dose of 600 mg per day per os and an ointment containing 0.005% calcipotriol and 0.05% betamethasone dipropionate 2 times a day. The control group, included 13 patients, used a combination with a cream containing 10% urea and ointment containing 0.05% betamethasone dipropionate. Results. After a week of treatment, the regression of the skin process was observed in both groups, but it was more evident in the main group: significant differences in severity of erythema, paresthesia, pain and burning sensation, the Dermatological Life Quality Index (DLQI) were observed at this stage of therapy ( p < 0.05). After 2 weeks of therapy: a more positive trend in the main group in terms of erythema, paresthesia and burning, but the most significant difference is DLQI – 17.4 in the main group and 22.8 in the control group ( p < 0.0001). At the end of the 3rd week of therapy: differences with the main characteristics of erythema, desquamation, paresthesia ( p < 0.0008), pain ( p < 0.0001), DLQI ( p < 0.0001). At the end point of the study (after 4 weeks of therapy), significant differences were found in reducing the symptoms and the main parameters for evaluating the effectiveness of DLQI in patients of the main group with a reliability of p < 0.0001. The high correlation of DLQI was found with erythema, pain, burning, paresthesia and desquamation. Conclusions. The treatment of the hand-foot plantar syndrome combined using alpha-lipoic acid inside and topical therapy in the form of an ointment containing calcipotriol and betamethasone dipropionate, can be recommended for patients receiving targeted therapy with multi-kinaseinhibitors.