Efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of high-dose selenium for preventing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer: study protocol for a phase III, double-blind, randomized study.

Background: The second-line chemotherapy using paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab for treating platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer frequently cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which is significantly associated with deterioration of quality of life. Despite the potential of some agents to prevent and treat CIPN, and there is still a lack of evidence of the effect. Although selenium has been suggested as an antioxidant candidate to prevent CIPN, there are insufficient data regarding its effect due to its low dose by oral administration. Thus, we hypothesized intravenous administration of high-dose selenium (2,000 μg/day) at each cycle of the second-line chemotherapy would prevent and reduce CIPN in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer.

Method: This trial is an investigator-initiated, phase III, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of high-dose selenium (2,000 μg/day) for preventing CIPN in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian, fallopian or primary peritoneal cancer who receive paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab. A total of 68 patients will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups at a 1:1 ratio. As the primary endpoint, the incidence rate of CIPN three months after six cycles of chemotherapy will be compared between the two groups according to the combined criteria of neuropathy using the World Health Organization-CIPN criteria and Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. As secondary endpoints, we will compare adverse events, patient-reported quality of life, and requirement of concomitant drugs for reducing CIPN between the two groups.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04201561.