Study Evaluating Neurotoxicity in Patients With Metastatic Gastro Intestinal Cancer Taking Phycocare® or Placebo During Oxaliplatin Based Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is one of the most frequent side effects caused by antineoplastic agents, with a prevalence from 19% to over 85%. Clinically, CIPN is a mostly sensory neuropathy that may be accompanied by motor and autonomic changes of varying intensity and duration. Due to its high prevalence among cancer patients, CIPN constitutes a major problem for both cancer patients and survivors as well as for their health care providers, especially because, at the moment, there is no single effective method of preventing CIPN; moreover, the possibilities of treating this syndrome are very limited. The phycocyanin (PC), a biliprotein pigment and an important constituent of the blue-green alga Spirulina platensis, has been reported to possess significant antioxidant and radical-scavenging properties, offering protection against oxidative stress. Study hypothesis is that phycocyanin may give protection against oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy in the treatment of gastro intestinal cancers including oesogastric, colo-rectal and pancreatic cancers. This trial will be a randomised placebo-controlled study.