Symptom management: the utility of regional cooling for hand-foot syndrome induced by pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in ovarian cancer.

Purpose: Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a major side effect of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD). Regional cooling during PLD infusion was shown to improve severe HFS. We investigated the utility of frozen gloves and socks (FGS) as a simpler cooling method.

Methods: To evaluate the utility and safety of regional cooling with FGS for PLD-induced HFS, we retrospectively analyzed patients with advanced ovarian cancer who used FGS during PLD-containing regimens.

Results: Ninety-six patients were analyzed. The incidence of HFS was 51% (≥ grade 2, 32%) in the PLD group and 38% (≥ grade 2, 6%) in the PLD + CBDCA group. The respective percentages of patients who underwent PLD dose modification/discontinuation were 41%/75% in the PLD group and 9%/30% in the PLD + CBDCA group. The reasons for discontinuation of PLD and PLD + CBDCA therapy were progressive disease, HFS, allergy, oral mucositis, and others. HFS was the only reason for PLD dose modification in both the PLD and PLD + CBDCA groups. The completion rate of FGS was 96%, with discontinuation in three cases due to pain from cooling.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that FGS is a safe, simple method with good tolerability. A prospective study is needed for further assessment.