Table 1.
Patient characteristics at baseline according to treatment arm
| Treatment with WBV | Treatment without WBV | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N = 66 | N = 65 | ||
| Sex, male/female | 29/37 | 34/31 | 0.38 |
| Age, years, median (Range) | 59 (28–70) | 62 (24–71) | 0.10 |
| Diagnosis, no. (%) | 0.85 | ||
| Hematological malignancies | 23 (35) | 21(32) | |
| Multiple myeloma | 8 (12) | 11 (17) | |
| Lymphomas | 10 (15) | 7 (11) | |
| Leukemias | 5 (7.5) | 3 (5) | |
| Solid tumors | 43 (65) | 44 (68) | |
| Colorectal | 13 (20) | 12 (18.5) | |
| Lung | 5 (7.5) | 3 (4.5) | |
| Esophageal/gastric | 2 (3) | 10 (15) | |
| Breast/ovarian | 13 (20) | 12 (18.5) | |
| Other | 7 (10.5) | 4 (6) | |
| Disease state (excl. leukemias) | |||
| Multiple myeloma (Salmon-Durie) | |||
| I | 3 | ||
| II | 4 | 1 | |
| III | 4 | 7 | |
| Lymphoma (Ann-Arbor) | |||
| I | 1 | ||
| II | 1 | ||
| III | 4 | 1 | |
| IV | 4 | 6 | |
| Solid tumors (WHO) | |||
| I | 2 | 4 | |
| II | 8 | 10 | |
| III | 19 | 10 | |
| IV | 14 | 20 | |
| Pretreatment, no. (%) | |||
| Radiotherapy | 28 (42%) | 18 (28%) | 0.10 |
| Chemotherapy | 66 (100%) | 65 (100%) | |
| Combination chemotherapya | 64 (97%) | 63 (97%) | 0.99 |
| Platinum-based | 27 (41%) | 35 (54%) | 0.16 |
| Taxane-based | 22 (33%) | 17 (26%) | 0.45 |
| Vinca alkaloids | 9 (14%) | 8 (12%) | 0.99 |
| Bortezomib | 6 (9%) | 7 (11%) | 0.78 |
| Time since last chemotherapy | |||
| In months, median (range) | 2 (0–98) | 0 (0–51) | 0.07 |
| Time since first chemotherapy | |||
| In months, median (range) | 19 (4–156) | 9 (2–180) | 0.005 |
| Treatment related neuropathy | |||
| NCI-CTC | |||
| Grade II | 28 (42%) | 35 (54%) | 0.22 |
| Grade III | 38 (58%) | 30 (46%) | |
| Active treatment to control pain, No. (%) | 15 (23%) | 21 (32) | 0.24 |
| Chemotherapy during study No. (%) | 25 (38%) | 34 (51%) | 0.12 |
WBV whole-body vibration therapy, WHO World Health Organization, NCI CTC National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria
aSingle agent chemotherapy; experimental arm, n = 2, arsenic trioxide, radioiodine therapy; standard arm, n = 2, cladribine, trastuzumab