Prevalence of joint symptoms in postmenopausal women taking aromatase inhibitors for early-stage breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) improve survival in postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive breast cancer, but can cause joint pain and stiffness. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence of and identify risk factors for AI-related joint symptoms.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional survey of consecutive postmenopausal women receiving adjuvant AI therapy for early-stage hormone-sensitive breast cancer at an urban academic breast oncology clinic. Patients completed a 25-item self-administered questionnaire assessing the presence of joint symptoms that started or worsened after initiating AIs. Multivariate regression was used to compare those with AI-related arthralgia with those who did not report symptoms, adjusting for demographic and clinical factors.


RESULTS
Of 200 patients who completed the survey, 94 (47%) reported having AI-related joint pain and 88 (44%) reported AI-related joint stiffness. In multiple logistic regression analysis, being overweight (body mass index of 25 to 30 kg/m(2)) and prior tamoxifen therapy were inversely associated with AI-related joint symptoms. Patients who received taxane chemotherapy were more than four times more likely than other patients to have AI-related joint pain and stiffness (odds ratio [OR] = 4.08, 95% CI, 1.58 to 10.57 and OR = 4.76; 95% CI, 1.84 to 12.28, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that AI-related joint symptoms are more prevalent than what has been described previously in clinical trials. The success of AI therapy depends on patients' ability to adhere to treatment recommendations; therefore, additional studies of interventions that may alleviate these symptoms are needed.
Crew
Katherine D
KD
Department of Medicine and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Greenlee
Heather
H
Capodice
Jillian
J
Raptis
George
G
Brafman
Lois
L
Fuentes
Deborah
D
Sierra
Alex
A
Hershman
Dawn L
DL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis
D047072:Aromatase Inhibitors