Biochemical parameters in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurotoxicity of antitumor cytostatics.

The significance of neurospecific proteins in the diagnosis of neurotoxicity in patients with breast, lung, testicular, and ovarian cancer treated by taxane and cisplatin drugs was evaluated. The most pronounced increase in the content of these proteins and titers of autoantibodies to these proteins was observed in patients with clinical manifestations of neurotoxicity induced by cytostatics. A strong correlation was found between the concentration of myelin basic protein and cumulative dose of the drug (R=0.922; p<0.0001). These data suggest that myelin basic protein and gliofibrillar acid protein can be used as markers in the diagnosis and monitoring of antitumor drug neurotoxicity.