Effectiveness of Statins for Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, including oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN), can have a negative impact on patient quality of life for months or even years after discontinuation of chemotherapy. Statins are commonly used for lowering cholesterol; however, evidence indicates that statins have multiple pleiotropic effects. Although statins are anticipated to exert neuroprotective actions against OIPN, no large-scale investigations have been conducted in real-world clinical settings. Our investigation aimed to determine if statins protected against OIPN. This multicentre retrospective study enrolled Japanese patients with cancer, including those with colorectal cancer (CRC), who received oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy between April 2009 and December 2019. Propensity score matching between groups was performed to assess the relationship between the occurrence of OIPN and statin use. Among the examined 2657 patients receiving oxaliplatin, 24.7% had Grade ≥ 2 OIPN. There was no significant difference in the incidence of OIPN between the statin and non-statin groups, even after propensity score matching. However, among the matched patients with CRC (n = 510), statin use was associated with a significantly lower incidence of Grade ≥ 2 OIPN than no statin use (19.8% vs. 28.3%, respectively; p = 0.029). Our findings indicate that statins may protect against OIPN in patients with CRC.