What is hand-foot syndrome?

  Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) was first described in 1984 by Jacob Lokich and Cery Moor at New England Kenneth Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and is referred to as “hand-foot-mouth disease”. The pathology of HFS is mainly characterized by vacuolar degeneration of basal keratinocytes, perivascular lymphocytic infiltration of the skin, keratinocyte apoptosis and skin edema. It is now believed that, based on the pathological manifestations of HFS, an inflammatory response is considered, possibly related to cyclooxygenase (COX) overexpression, and that COX-2 specific inhibitors may prevent HFS or reduce the extent of HFS.  Cilodar (capecitabine tablets) is a new generation of oral pyrimidine drugs, mainly indicated for the treatment of advanced breast and colorectal cancer, with positive efficacy, mild bone marrow toxicity and good patient tolerance, but also with adverse effects such as hand-foot syndrome, the incidence of which is above 50%, affecting the treatment of some patients.  The effect of celecoxib combined with vitamin B6 on the incidence of hand-foot syndrome due to Siroda was investigated by a blank-controlled trial. After oral administration, Siroda was first converted to 5-DFUR in vivo, and then converted to the antitumor active drug 5-Fu by thymidylate phosphorylase (TP), thus exerting cytotoxic effects. Due to the low TPase activity in normal tissues, Siroda has a high selectivity for tumor tissues. From domestic and international studies, Siroda has achieved good efficacy in advanced breast cancer, colorectal cancer and even nasopharyngeal cancer. The dose-limiting toxicity affecting its application is mainly hand-foot syndrome, with an incidence of more than 50%.  Celecoxib is a new generation compound that specifically inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Inflammatory stimuli induce COX-2 production, thus leading to the synthesis and accumulation of inflammatory prostaglandin-like substances, especially prostaglandin E2, causing inflammation, edema and pain. Celecoxib can prevent the production of inflammatory prostaglandin-like substances by inhibiting COX-2, achieving anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic effects.  Vitamin B6 is a component of certain coenzymes in the body and is involved in a variety of metabolic reactions, especially with amino acid metabolism, and long-term deficiency can lead to damage to the skin, central nervous system and hematopoietic system. Concomitant administration of celecoxib with Xeloda not only reduced the incidence of hand-foot syndrome and significantly reduced the incidence of diarrhea, but also increased the antitumor efficacy of Xeloda, which has been of considerable interest to scholars from various countries.  The results of the study showed that concomitant administration of celecoxib and vitamin B6 could indeed reduce the incidence of hiroda hand-foot syndrome to some extent, and there was a statistically significant difference between the test group and the control group.  In conclusion, by exploring effective methods to prevent and treat the hand-foot syndrome caused by Herodah, we can reduce the toxic side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs, ensure the smooth treatment, significantly improve the treatment success rate of tumor patients and prolong the survival time, etc., which has wide social and economic benefits. Among them, the specific COX-2 inhibitor reduces the incidence and severity of hand-foot syndrome to a certain extent, which deserves to be continued more in-depth study by colleagues.