A study looking at joint and muscle aches, pain and stiffness in women with breast cancer (JACS)
Funder: Breast Cancer Campaign
PI: Julia Addington-Hall
This study is looking at women’s experiences of joint aches, pain and stiffness in breast cancer to try to understand more about what causes this. Pain can be caused by the cancer (a ‘symptom’), or by treatment (a ‘side effect’). This study is looking at pain as a side effect of treatment.
We know from research that many women have joint aches, pain and stiffness after treatment for newly diagnosed breast cancer that hasn’t spread (‘primary’ breast cancer).
Another study of women at breast clinics showed that those with breast cancer had more joint pain that those who did not and that these problems may affect women’s daily activities. Sometimes they can be bad enough to make the person want to stop their treatment. But it is not yet clear which breast cancer treatment causes the aches and pains. Or how bad these aches and pains are, how long they last and how they affect people’s lives.
Researchers want to find out more about joint aches and pains after treatment for primary breast cancer. Although they can be caused by getting older or the change of life (menopause), there may be a link to breast cancer treatment. They will look at the experiences of women having chemotherapy or hormone therapy (or both) for primary breast cancer and compare these to those of women with a very early type of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The aims of this study include finding out about
The study aims to include 500 women and follow them up at five time points over a period of one year. The researchers hope that their findings will help doctors provide information to patients when deciding on their treatment plan and to begin to explore ways of treating the aches and pains.