High Incidence of Severe Hand-Foot Syndrome During Capecitabine-Docetaxel Combination Chemotherapy

The document reports on a study where capecitabine, an oral antineoplastic agent, was used in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer in 23 patients over four therapeutic cycles. Despite the administration of pyridoxine to prevent hand-foot syndrome, a severe side effect of chemotherapy, approximately 52% (12 out of 23) of the patients developed grade 3 hand-foot syndrome. This incidence is significantly higher than the previously reported 24% in metastatic breast cancer patients, suggesting that ethnicity might play a role in this difference, although other factors could also be involved. The study also investigated the potential genetic cause of severe 5-FU toxicity, which is associated with a mutation in the DPYD gene, but this mutation was not found in any of the patients, indicating that the severity of hand-foot syndrome in this case is likely not related to the IVS14+1G→A mutation.