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Review
. 2025 Jul 7:6:1607102.
doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1607102. eCollection 2025.

The treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a review of current management options and a potential role for scrambler therapy

Hassan Aboumerhi  1 , Henry Vucetic  1 , Andrew Gruenzel  1 , Bahar Moftakhar  2   3 , Mona Gupta  3   4 , Santosh K Rao  2   3 , Michael D Staudt  3   5
Affiliations
Review

The treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a review of current management options and a potential role for scrambler therapy

Hassan Aboumerhi et al. Front Pain Res (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) presents a growing medical and financial burden on patients and the healthcare system alike. This has been treated with conservative and interventional care limited by efficacy, side effects, and lack of coverage. As such, there is an unmet treatment need for effective non-invasive or minimally invasive therapies for the treatment of CIPN. Scrambler therapy (ST) is a peripheral, non-invasive neuromodulation technique, which uses transcutaneous electrical stimulation to modulate pain signals. ST has shown mixed results in clinical trials; while some patients report symptom relief, more robust evidence is required before it can be widely recommended. This review article outlines the burden of CIPN and the current state of treatment, including pharmacological and interventional therapies. The emerging data on ST and its role in treating CIPN is highlighted, including a review of published observational and randomized controlled trials. We also discuss the gaps and challenges ahead in establishing this therapy as a standard of care.

Keywords: cancer; chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy; chronic pain; neuropathic pain; neuropathy; review; scrambler therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper. Staudt is a consultant for Boston Scientific, Curonix, Medtronic, NeuroOne, and Nevro, outside the submitted work. Aboumerhi is a consultant for SPR Therapeutics, outside the submitted work. Vucetic is a consultant for Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Saluda, SPR Therapeutics and Stryker, outside the submitted work. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of the hardware and patient setup for scrambler therapy. Electrodes are applied to the painful areas to be treated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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