Topical cream calms chemotherapy side effects on the skin

Most patients receiving chemotherapy with taxanes or platinum salts develop pain and loss of sensitivity in their hands and feet—a severe side effect that can interfere with proper treatment. Addressing this unmet clinical need, researchers at the Institute of Research, Development and Innovation in Health Biotechnology of Elche (IDiBE) at Miguel Hernández University (UMH) have coordinated an international clinical trial demonstrating the effectiveness of an innovative topical cream developed at UMH to relieve these symptoms and improve cancer patients’ quality of life.

Up to 80% of patients treated with these types of chemotherapy experience hand–foot neuropathy, an adverse effect that may force dose reduction or even treatment interruption. IDiBE-UMH professors Asia Fernández Carvajal and Antonio Ferrer Montiel coordinated this multicenter clinical trial, which confirms that topical application can significantly reduce the incidence of neuropathy in the hands and delay the onset of symptoms during treatment.

The study, published in the scientific journal Clinical and Translational Oncology, was conducted in nine hospitals across Spain and Belgium, involving 142 patients with cancer. The trial compared a conventional moisturizing cream with a nociceutical formulation developed at UMH and marketed by the spin-off company Prospera Biotech.

Results show a reduction in the incidence of hand neuropathy, a delay in the onset of neuropathic symptoms during chemotherapy, and, overall, a lower impact of these symptoms on patients’ daily lives. These findings pave the way for new healthcare options to address an adverse effect that, until now, lacked effective preventive treatments.

“Before the development of this formulation, oncologists and patients had no specific product to relieve these symptoms, which were often so severe that they led to dose reduction or even treatment discontinuation—with consequences for tumor control,” explains UMH Professor Asia Fernández Carvajal. According to the researcher, the rate of dose reduction or treatment abandonment in patients with peripheral neuropathy can reach up to 60%.

For his part, UMH Professor Antonio Ferrer Montiel explains that the ingredients of the cream “protect sensory nerve endings in the skin, which are responsible for discomfort and itching in the peripheral neurosensory system.” In this way, topical protection helps reduce hypersensitivity in hands and feet and improves tolerance to chemotherapy.

The product is currently available in European pharmacies as a neurocosmetic—a safe and, in this case, also effective product that can be used without a prescription. “Moving into clinical trials is not easy, but we believe the effort is worthwhile if it allows this formulation to become an adjuvant during chemotherapy and after treatment, supporting the ongoing care of cancer patients,” concludes Ferrer Montiel.