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The following is a summary of “From breast cancer diagnosis to survivorship: analyzing perioperative biopsychosocial phenotypes and their relationship to pain on long term,” published in the October 2024 issue of Pain by Amber et al.
Persistent breast cancer treatment-related pain had impacted up to 40% of the patients, diminishing the QoL.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to identify qualitatively different phenotypes of breast cancer-related pain using cluster analysis and to investigate the relationship between pain intensity and evolution over time.
They examined 184 women undergoing unilateral breast cancer surgery. Somatosensory functioning was assessed using 8 quantitative sensory testing (QST) methods (mechanical detection, pain thresholds, pressure pain thresholds, thermal detection, pain thresholds, and conditioned pain modulation) at the surgical site (trunk, arm, major pectoral muscle) and a distant site (quadriceps muscle). Psychosocial functioning was evaluated pre- and post-surgery using the Central Sensitization Inventory, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, and the McGill QoL Questionnaire. Pain intensity 1-year post-surgery was assessed by using the Visual Analogue Scale. The latent class analysis identified different phenotypes.
The results showed that 5 distinct phenotypes were identified pre- and post-surgery, characterized by differences in mechanical and pain thresholds as well as psychosocial factors. Higher levels of psychosocial distress and lower QoL were linked to increased pain intensity in 1-year post-surgery. The evolution of phenotype membership from pre- to post-surgery was also observed.
Investigators concluded that the mental health of patients with breast cancer perioperatively could potentially lessen the long-term pain intensity.
Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(24)00680-1/abstract
