Taxane-induced acute pain syndrome in patients with breast cancer

Taxane acute pain syndrome (TAPS) is a clinically significant but understudied side effect. To date, there are few available methods for the prevention and therapeutic treatment of taxane-induced arthralgia and/or myalgia. There is also no data on the true frequency of TAPS. The purpose — to assess the incidence of TAPS, and to determine whether the occurrence of TAPS early in the cycle may be a predictor of a more severe form of chemo-induced polyneuropathy in patients with breast cancer. Material and methods. TAPS symptoms were prospectively assessed in 60 patients using the Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (PNQ), the Common Terminology Adverse Event Assessment Criteria Scale (NCI-CTCAE), the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), and the Cancer Patient General Health Assessment Scale (ECOG) at baseline, 1 week and 13 weeks after the start of chemotherapy. Results. According to the PNQ questionnaire, 52% of patients treated with taxanes reported the development of arthralgia or myalgia. Arthralgia was observed in 93% of women, and myalgia in 22%. In the group of patients who developed acute pain syndrome after the first administration of taxanes, the severity of chemo-induced peripheral polyneuropathy was higher than in the group where no pain syndrome was observed. The difference was statistically significant both one week (p < 0.05) and 13 weeks (p < 0.05) after the first administration. Conclusions. The study found that arthralgias and/or myalgias may be common side effects of docetaxel/paclitaxel treatment, and amounted to 52%. We noted that patients with TAPS were more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy after the first administration. More research should be done to better understand the true incidence of TAPS, as well as to determine the optimal therapeutic and preventive treatment methods.