A prospective study of docetaxel-associated pain syndrome

To investigate the natural history of taxane-associated acute pain syndrome (TAPS) in a docetaxel patient cohort and to examine the long-term manifestation of TAPS.

For three consecutive treatment cycles, taxane-naive breast cancer patients completed diaries on days 1–7, 14, and 21 and telephone questionnaires 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months following treatment. Questionnaires to assess pain and interference were adapted from the Brief Pain Inventory. To examine the experience of arthralgia and myalgia as one syndrome, information on patient experiences with arthralgia or myalgia was elicited separately in order to determine how closely experiences of each toxicity correlated with each other. A ≥2 point increase from baseline was defined as an arthralgia or myalgia “pain flare,” and only those with “flare” were included in calculations of incidence.

A total of 278 patients were accrued. Thirty-eight patients were omitted due to missing information, and 24 patients were omitted due to metastatic disease, for a total of 216 patients overall and 188 in the docetaxel cohort. A total of 74.5% of docetaxel patients experienced joint pain flare, and 78.2% experienced muscle pain flare at some point in the overall course of three treatment cycles. Joint and muscle pain peaked on days 4–5 for each cycle, and median pain severity for both joint and muscle pain was 4/10 during the 21-day period. Median onset of joint pain flare was 3 days for cycle 1 and 4 days for cycles 2 and 3, with an average median duration of 4 days. Median onset of muscle pain flare was 4 days for all three cycles, with a median duration of 4 days for cycles 1 and 2, and 5 days for cycle 3. Both joint and muscle pain persisted 1 year after treatment in approximately half of responding patients.

This study documents the significant incidence of TAPS in patients treated with docetaxel chemotherapy and shows a long-term persistence of the syndrome.