Long-term Side-effects of Testicular Cancer Chemotherapy
10 June 2010 - Men given chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer are at risk of long-term side-effects including nerve pain, hearing loss and discoloured fingers and toes. The study in the journal Cancer provides strong evidence that doctors should give men the minimum amount of treatment required to cure their disease.
Dr Robert Huddart and his team at the ICR and The Royal Marsden conducted the largest ever study of the prevalence of nervous system and blood vessel disorders in long-term survivors of testicular cancer. While these symptoms were previously recognised in men treated under old chemotherapy regimes, the risks of modern treatments had not been assessed.
The scientists investigated 739 patients who had completed treatment at least five years earlier. About half the men had been given chemotherapy, while all had undergone surgery and some had also been given radiotherapy. The men completed surveys about their symptoms and quality of life, were physically assessed in the clinic and the majority were given hearing tests.
Overall, side-effects were found more frequently in patients treated with chemotherapy than by other means. About one in five patients given chemotherapy were found to suffer nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy), compared to one in ten who were not given chemotherapy.
Patients treated with chemotherapy also had a one in five chance of experiencing discoloured fingers (Raynaud phenomenon), compared to just a one in fifty chance for those treated by other means. Most of this effect appeared to be linked to the drug bleomycin.
Patients given chemotherapy were also at higher risk of hearing loss, particularly those who had received higher doses of cisplatin and vincristine. Ringing ears (tinnitus) was also found among patients taking higher doses of cisplatin.
