Duloxetine in Treating Peripheral Neuropathy Caused by Chemotherapy in Patients With Cancer

RATIONALE: Duloxetine may lessen peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy. It is not yet known whether duloxetine is more effective than a placebo in treating peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying duloxetine to see how well it works compared with a placebo in treating peripheral neuropathy caused by chemotherapy in patients with cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

* Determine the efficacy of duloxetine hydrochloride in cancer patients with painful chemotherapy-induced (taxane or platinum agent) peripheral neuropathy.

Secondary

* Determine the influence of this drug on peripheral neuropathy-related functional status and quality of life of these patients.
* Describe the differences in duloxetine hydrochloride efficacy when used to treat pain caused by chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy based on the neurotoxic drug and class.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Patients are stratified according to prior neurotoxic agent (paclitaxel vs oxaliplatin vs other taxane agents without paclitaxel vs platinum agents \[cisplatin\] without oxaliplatin) and high risk for developing painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (no vs yes). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

* Arm I: Patients receive oral duloxetine hydrochloride once or twice daily in weeks 1-6. After a 1-week rest period, patients cross over to receive an oral placebo once or twice daily in weeks 8-13.
* Arm II: Patients receive an oral placebo once or twice daily in weeks 1-6. After a 1-week rest period, patients cross over to receive oral duloxetine hydrochloride once or twice daily in weeks 8-13.

Patients complete pain and quality of life questionnaires, including the BPI-SF once weekly and FACT/GOG-NTX and EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires, in weeks 1, 6, 8, and 13.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed for 2 weeks.

Eligibility Criteria:
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

* Diagnosis of cancer

  * CNS malignancy allowed with the exception of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis
* Must have painful sensory chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) resulting from prior treatment with single-agent taxane or platinum agents (paclitaxel, docetaxel, nab-paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, cisplatin) (may not have received drugs from both classes)

  * CIPN \> grade 1 as measured by NCI-CTCAE v 4.0
  * Average neuropathic pain score ≥ 4
* Patients with the following illnesses known to cause peripheral neuropathy are eligible, provided they have no evidence of neuropathy from these illnesses:

  * Diabetes mellitus
  * Peripheral vascular disease
  * HIV infection
  * Significant degenerative or familial neurologic disorder known to cause peripheral neuropathy
* No clinical or subclinical neuropathy from nerve compression injuries (i.e., carpal tunnel syndrome, brachial plexopathy, spinal stenosis, or spinal nerve root compression)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

* AST ≤ 3 times upper limit of normal
* Total bilirubin ≤ normal
* Creatinine clearance \> 30 mL/min
* Not pregnant or nursing
* Able to take oral or enteral medication
* No history of seizure disorder
* No diagnosis of ethanol addiction or dependence within the past 10 years
* No history of narrow-angle glaucoma
* None of the following:

  * History of suicidal thoughts
  * Symptoms of or history of schizophrenia, bipolar disease, or a major depression
  * Serious eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia where electrolyte imbalance is likely

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

* At least 3 months since prior and no concurrent taxane or platinum agent
* At least 14 days since prior and no concurrent monoamine oxidase inhibitors or other antidepressants
* No other prior or concurrent neurotoxic drugs (e.g., vincristine, vinblastine, cytarabine, thalidomide, bortezomib, carboplatin, or procarbazine)
* No concurrent anticonvulsants
* No concurrent B or E vitamin supplementation in doses greater than the recommended daily allowance (RDA)

  * Centrum (standard formula) and One-A-Day "essential" formula which contain 100% RDA for vitamins B6, E, and B12 allowed
  * Other multivitamins allowed provided they contain no more than 100% RDA of B vitamins and vitamin E
* No concurrent treatment (pharmacologic) for depression