title: The relationship between numbness, tingling, and shooting/burning pain in patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) as measured by the EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 instrument, N06CA.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is characterized by numbness, tingling, and shooting/burning pain. This analysis was performed to describe the relationship between numbness, tingling, and shooting/burning pain in patients with CIPN, as reported using the EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 (CIPN20).
  
  
  METHODS
  Baseline CIPN20 data were provided for all patients on a prospective trial designed to treat patients with bothersome CIPN. Baseline frequencies for the items on the CIPN20 are primarily described by descriptive statistics and histograms, with correlational analyses between individual items.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of the 199 patients accrued to this study reported "quite a bit" to "very much" numbness (57%) or tingling (63%) in the hands compared to "a little" or "not at all" (numbness (43%), tingling (38%)). Fewer patients reported "quite a bit" to "very much" shooting/burning pain in the hands (18%). Numbness and tingling in the hands were highly correlated (r = 0.69), while neither were highly correlated with shooting/burning pain. Similar results were observed in the feet. More severe ratings for tingling and shooting/burning pain were ascribed to the lower extremities, as opposed to the upper extremities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with CIPN, severe sensory neuropathy symptoms (numbness, tingling) commonly exist without severe neuropathic pain symptoms (shooting/burning pain), while the reverse is not common. Symptoms in the feet should be evaluated distinctly from those in the hands as the experience of symptoms is not identical, for individual patients, in upper versus lower extremities.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Clinic Rochester, 200 First Street, SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Sherry L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Debra L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wos
authors.forename: Jeff A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.forename: Heshan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Neil K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Aaronson
authors.forename: Daniel V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Satele
authors.forename: Bassam I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Mattar
authors.forename: Nathan B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Loprinzi
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires