A major challenge in treating tumors is the development of polyneuropathy caused by the neurotoxicity of chemotherapy agents. Currently, there are no specific markers to monitor chemotherapy-induced complications. This review examines the potential of extracellular vesicles as predictive tools for chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy. Extracellular vesicles facilitate intercellular communication in both normal and pathological conditions, including tumor progression. However, the mechanisms underlying chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy and the involvement of extracellular vesicles remain unclear. The roles of the actin cytoskeleton and actin-binding proteins in extracellular vesicle dynamics are still under investigation. Advancing our understanding of cytoskeletal proteins in extracellular vesicle metabolism, alongside the neurotoxic effects of antitumor agents, may offer new insights into the pathogenesis of chemotherapy complications. This research could enable the use of extracellular vesicles as both diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets in cancer treatment.
Kakurina et al. (2026) studied this question.