Study summary · research use only
Acetyl-L-carnitine for the prevention of taxane-induced neuropathy in patients with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This systematic review and meta-analysis examined acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) for prevention of taxane-induced neuropathy (TIN) in human breast cancer patients, following PRISMA methodology and searching literature from 2010 to 2019. Of 12 titles/abstracts found, 6 were excluded initially, and after full-text review of the remaining 6, 3 were rejected, leaving 3 articles for pooled analysis. Using a random-effects model for 12-24 weeks' analysis (I2=0%, P=0.999), the meta-analysis showed a risk ratio of 0.796 (95% CI 0.486-1.303). The authors report no evidence of a positive effect of ALC on preventing TIN during 12 weeks, and that ALC was associated with a significant increase in TIN at 24 weeks, concluding the hypothesis that ALC had a positive effect on preventing TIN at 12 weeks was not proved.
Abstract
Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most prevalent and undesirable side effects of taxane-containing chemotherapy regimens. This study aimed to investigate the effect of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) on the prevention of taxane-induced neuropathy (TIN). MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and Google scholar were systemically applied as electronic databases from 2010 to 2019. The current systematic review was carried out based on the main considerations of PRISMA preferential reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses. Since there was no significant discrepancy, the random-effect model was used for 12-24 weeks' analysis (I2 = 0%, P = 0.999). Twelve related titles and abstracts were found during the search, 6 of them were excluded in the first phase. In the second phase, the full text of the remaining 6 articles was comprehensively evaluated and 3 papers were rejected. Finally, 3 articles complied with the inclusion criteria and pooled analyses. The meta-analysis showed a risk ratio of 0.796 (95% CI between 0.486 and 1.303), so, the effects model was used for 12-24 weeks' analysis (I2 = 0%, P = 0.999) since no significant discrepancies were observed. There was no evidence of ALC's positive effect on the prevention of TIN during 12 weeks, and it was revealed that ALC significantly increased TIN in 24 weeks. According to our findings, the hypothesis that ALC had a positive effect on preventing TIN in 12 weeks has not been proved; however, ALC led to an increase in the TIN in 24 weeks.
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