Due to advances in cancer screening and treatments, the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer will be cured of their disease.  However, many will require at least five years of therapy with medications called aromatase inhibitors, which greatly reduce the amount of estrogen circulating in the body.  These drugs cause new or worsening aches and pains in about half of women taking them, resulting in decreased quality of life. 

One hypothesis is that medication-induced lowering of estrogen levels may affect pain perception, resulting in increased sensation of pain during therapy.  In order to evaluate this hypothesis, Dr. Henry [Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator] will conduct a clinical trial to assess change in pain threshold and development of aches and pains in women who are being treated with an aromatase inhibitor.  In addition, she will determine if there is a link between pain symptoms during treatment and inherited mutations in genes involved in pain perception; this will address whether some women are predisposed to developing symptoms during aromatase inhibitor therapy. The overall goal is to gain a better understanding of why pain symptoms occur, so that these symptoms can be prevented or treated, thereby improving the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.

 

 

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Project Title: "Pain processing pathway analysis in aromatase inhibitor-associated musculoskeletal syndrome"

Institution: University of Michigan

Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): Daniel F. Hayes, MD

Cancer Type: Breast

Research Area: Pharmacogenomics and Biomarkers