South Asian journal of cancer
April 24, 2025 · via Europe PMC
The Effect of Topical Heparin Gel on Reducing Hand-Foot Syndrome Symptoms in Cancer Patients Treated with Capecitabine.
Mirjalili M, Salehinajafabadi Y, Shahraki HR, Masumi R
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Topical heparin gel improved erythema and swelling in patients with mild capecitabine-related hand-foot syndrome in a small randomized study.
What was studied
Randomized trial of 40 patients with grade 1 or lower hand-foot syndrome on capecitabine, given heparin gel four times daily or placebo gel for 21 days.
Key findings
- Erythema and swelling differed significantly between groups after treatment
- No significant differences in blisters, bleeding or scaling
- 11 patients in the heparin group improved in HFS grade while none in the control group changed
Clinical relevance
Hand-foot syndrome can force capecitabine dose reductions, so a simple topical agent is attractive for oncologists.
Who should care
Limitations
With only 40 patients and 3 weeks of follow-up, the trial is small and short, and the abstract conclusion is truncated.
Heparin gel may be a low-risk supportive option for early HFS, but larger trials are needed before routine use.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a distinct and relatively frequent toxic skin reaction associated with certain chemotherapy agents, particularly capecitabine. Given the complications of this syndrome and the critical importance of timely and accurate treatment, the present study aims to investigate the efficacy of topical heparin gel in alleviating HFS in cancer patients undergoing treatment with capecitabine.
METHODS
A total of 40 patients with grade ⩽ 1 HFS associated with capecitabine were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received heparin sulfate gel four times a day (21 days) along with capecitabine treatment, while the control group received only capecitabine and placebo gel. The changes in the severity of HFS and clinical manifestations, including erythema, swelling, blisters, hyperkeratosis, and bleeding, at baseline and 3 weeks posttreatment were evaluated. The data were subsequently validated by Fisher's or Chi-square tests.
RESULTS
At the beginning of the study, there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding disease manifestations. However, after the intervention, a significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of erythema and swelling ( = 0.001). There were no significant differences between the groups in other manifestations, such as blisters, bleeding, and scaling ( = 0.99). Comparison of the degree of HFS in the intervention group showed that 11 patients experienced improvement after the intervention, while all patients in the control group remained at the same degree of syndrome as before the intervention.
CONCLUSION
The management of HFS in cancer treatment includes a combination of prevention, patient education, symptom improvement, and dose-intensity management. According to the results, it can be said that due to the positive effect of topical heparin gel in improving HFS caused by capecitabine and due to the absence of side effects, the use of topical heparin gel is recommended.
KEY POINTS
Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a distinct and relatively frequent toxic skin reaction associated with capecitabine.The efficacy of topical heparin gel in alleviating HFS in cancer patients was investigated.Topical heparin gel is recommended due to its positive effect in improving HFS caused by capecitabine.
DOI
10.1055/s-0044-1801832
PMID
41426156
PMCID
PMC12714470
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
Want more like this?
Browse more from the feed. A free account unlocks the full feed, saving and communities.
Back to the research feed