Objective: To describe the side effects of bortezomib in treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), especially the incidence of peripheral neuropathy (PN).
Methods: Information of 107 patients with MM who were treated with bortezomib in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University from 2009 to 2014, were collected and analyzed retrospectively, to analyze the occurrence of adverse events during the treatment, especially the incidences of PN in each cycle and in different patients.
Results: A total of 40 (37%) patients suffered from PN, among which 13 patients were grade 3 PN and no patients reported grade 4 PN. Other common treatment-related side effects were thrombocytopenia, gastrointestinal reactions, fatigue, lung infection, herpes zoster in turn. In 44 MM patients treated strictly with bortezomib 1.3 mg/m(2) (days 1, 4, 8, 11) of each 3-week cycle, 20(45%) patients suffered from PN, of which 6 (14%) patients got grade 3 PN. In other 63 patients who received bortezomib less than 1.3 mg/m(2), 20 (32%) patients got PN and 7(11%) patients were grade 3 PN. There was no significant difference in the incidence of PN between the two groups of MM patients mentioned above (P=0.149), as well as the incidence of grade 3 PN (P=0.694). Univariate and multivariate analyse revealed that gender, age, a history of hypertensive disease, diabetes or hepatitis B virus infection, baseline PN symptoms and a history of neurotoxicity drug therapy were all not risk factors for PN (all P>0.05).
Conclusions: The reduction of bortezomib do not decrease the incidence of PN in bortezomib treatment of MM. Age, a history of diabetes and baseline PN symptoms are not risk factors for PN in bortezomib treatment of MM.