1. Complementary and alternative medicine and musculoskeletal pain in the first year of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor treatment in early breast cancer patients
- Author
-
C.C. Hack, L. Häberle, S.Y. Brucker, W. Janni, B. Volz, C.R. Loehberg, A.D. Hartkopf, C.-B. Walter, G. Baake, A. Fridman, W. Malter, R. Wuerstlein, N. Harbeck, O. Hoffmann, S. Kuemmel, B. Martin, C. Thomssen, H. Graf, C. Wolf, M.P. Lux, C.M. Bayer, C. Rauh, K. Almstedt, P. Gass, F. Heindl, T. Brodkorb, L. Willer, C. Lindner, H.-C. Kolberg, P. Krabisch, M. Weigel, D. Steinfeld-Birg, A. Kohls, C. Brucker, V. Schulz, G. Fischer, V. Pelzer, B. Rack, M.W. Beckmann, T. Fehm, A. Rody, N. Maass, A. Hein, P.A. Fasching, and N. Nabieva
- Subjects
Breast cancer ,Endocrine therapy/treatment ,Aromatase inhibitors ,Letrozole ,Integrative medicine ,Complementary and alternative medicine ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Background: Patients with breast cancer (BC) show strong interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), particularly for adverse effects of adjuvant endocrine treatment — e.g., with letrozole. Letrozole often induces myalgia/limb pain and arthralgia, with potential noncompliance and treatment termination. This analysis investigated whether CAM before aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy is associated with pain development and the intensity of AI-induced musculoskeletal syndrome (AIMSS) during the first year of treatment. Patients and methods: The multicenter phase IV PreFace study evaluated letrozole therapy in postmenopausal, hormone receptor–positive patients with early BC. Patients were asked about CAM use before, 6 months after, and 12 months after treatment started. They recorded pain every month for 1 year in a diary including questions about pain and numeric pain rating scales. Data were analyzed for patients who provided pain information for all time points. Results: Of 1396 patients included, 901 (64.5%) had used CAM before AI treatment. Throughout the observation period, patients with CAM before AI treatment had higher pain values, for both myalgia/limb pain and arthralgia, than non-users. Pain increased significantly in both groups over time, with the largest increase during the first 6 months. No significant difference of pain increase was noted regarding CAM use. Conclusions: CAM use does not prevent or improve the development of AIMSS. Pain intensity was generally greater in the CAM group. Therefore, because of the risk of non-compliance and treatment discontinuation due to the development of higher pain levels, special attention must be paid to patient education and aftercare in these patients.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF