Risk factors for venous irritation in patients receiving vinorelbine: a retrospective study

Abstract

BackgroundVinorelbine is known to be effective in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. However, venous irritation is a common side effect. Although there have been some reports on risk factors for venous irritation in patients receiving vinorelbine, the factors evaluated have been limited and the results inconclusive. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for venous irritation in patients receiving vinorelbine, and factors likely associated with venous irritation, including new factors such as hot compress with a hot towel for prevention of venous irritation.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed patients treated with vinorelbine at Kyorin University Hospital, Japan, between March 2013 and December 2016 and divided them into the two groups according to whether or not they had venous irritation. Clinical characteristics were compared between the two groups.ResultsVenous irritation occurred in 24 (38.1%) of 63 patients who received vinorelbine. The median number of times vinorelbine was administered before onset of venous irritation was 3 (range 1–14). The group with venous irritation had a significantly lower body surface area than the group without venous irritation (p = 0.035). Low body surface area was also the only significant risk factor for vinorelbine-associated venous irritation in multivariate analysis (adjusted odds ratio 70.42 per 1 m2decrement, 95% confidence interval 1.54–3236.25, p = 0.029). There was no association between the occurrence of venous irritation and the other covariates, such as use of a hot compress, history of diabetes mellitus, or use of a generic formulation of vinorelbine.ConclusionLow body surface area may be a risk factor for venous irritation in patients receiving vinorelbine. Use of hot compress with a hot towel did not prevent venous irritation.

Comparing incidences of infusion site reactions between brand‐name and generic vinorelbine in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer

“…Another possible reason for this difference might be the higher frequency of ISRs in real‐world practice. Previous retrospective studies reported the incidence of venous irritation induced by VNR was 38.1‐46%, 11,12 which is similar to that in our study.…”

“…The reason for this difference was unknown, but the possible explanations are differences in patient characteristics or evaluation of ISRs. Morimoto et al also evaluated the risk factors for venous irritation 12 . In their research, the association of BSA as well as drug formulation with venous irritation was investigated.…”

“…Therefore, it is important to know the risk factors of ISRs and manage ISRs appropriately. Several studies have reported the risk factors of ISRs caused by VNR, including high body mass index (BMI), 2 high dose 11 and low body surface area (BSA) 12 …”

A review of research progress of antitumor drugs based on tubulin targets

“…Vinblastine is a semi-synthetic derivative of vinblastine, inhibits the polymerization of tubulin and stops cell division in the middle stage of mitosis, and is a cell cycle-specific drug. Patients receiving vinorelbine are at risk of venous stimulation, and vinorelbine can induce the extravasation of the chemotherapy port, causing infection ( 45 ). Bendamustine combined with vinorelbine is an effective treatment for autologous stem cell transplantation before the induction chemotherapy for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma.…”