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Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 3/2010

01-04-2010 | Review

Aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia in early breast cancer: what do we know and how can we find out more?

Authors: Omar S. Din, David Dodwell, Richard J. Wakefield, Robert E. Coleman

Published in: Breast Cancer Research and Treatment | Issue 3/2010

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Abstract

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a standard of care for the adjuvant treatment of hormone responsive early carcinoma of the breast as demonstrated in a number of large international phase III randomised trials. Arthralgia was a somewhat unexpected side effect of this class of agents and has proven to be potentially problematic in clinical practice. Although rates of up 35% have been reported in the randomised trials, the figure has been much higher in subsequent case series. There is concern that these symptoms are significant and may affect compliance and thus the overall efficacy of treatment. It is therefore extremely important that we evaluate this syndrome with a view to gaining more information regarding its clinical features and possible aetiological mechanism. The potential aetiological mechanisms and evidence for aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia (AIA) are reviewed in this article. Looking forward, it is now important that prospective clinical trials are well designed to evaluate this syndrome and potential therapeutic strategies to circumvent it. Radiological imaging and biochemical analyses may help our understanding of AIA and these are discussed.
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Metadata
Title
Aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia in early breast cancer: what do we know and how can we find out more?
Authors
Omar S. Din
David Dodwell
Richard J. Wakefield
Robert E. Coleman
Publication date
01-04-2010
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment / Issue 3/2010
Print ISSN: 0167-6806
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7217
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-010-0757-7

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