Combination chemotherapy with platinum and taxane is the first-line treatment for ovarian cancer. The dose-limiting toxicities of these drugs include neuropathy, leukopenia, and neutropenia, but they exhibit substantial interindividual variability. This study investigated the relationship between CYP3A5 polymorphisms and paclitaxel/carboplatin-induced toxicity in Chinese epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Seventy-five patients with epithelial ovarian cancer were recruited. After combination chemotherapy, genotype analysis was conducted, and toxic effects were evaluated according to the Common Toxicity Criteria. A significant association was found between myelosuppression and the CYP3A5*3 genotype. CYP3A5*3/*1 patients showed a significantly higher risk of developing leukopenia (P < .001; Pearson's χ(2) test) and neutropenia (P < .001; Pearson's χ(2) test) than CYP3A5*3*3 patients. CYP3A5*3/*3 patients had significantly higher median leukocyte and neutrophil nadir counts than CYP3A5*3*1 patients (P < .001, Mann-Whitney U test). However, we did not observe an association between neuropathy and CYP3A5*3 in this study (P =.64; Pearson's χ(2) test). This is the first study to verify the influence of CYP3A5 polymorphisms on paclitaxel/carboplatin-induced toxicity in Chinese epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Our findings suggest that interindividual variability in paclitaxel/carboplatin-induced myelosuppression can be predicted by CYP3A5*3 genotyping and that incorporation of CYP3A5*3 genetic data in treatment selection could help to reduce myelosuppression events, thereby individualizing paclitaxel/carboplatin pharmacotherapy.
Keywords: CYP3A5; Paclitaxel; myelosuppression; ovarian cancer; toxicity.
© 2015, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.