The following is a summary of “Continuum of somatosensory profiles in breast cancer survivors with and without pain, compared to healthy controls and patients with fibromyalgia,” published in the March 2024 issue of Pain by Haenen et al.

Breast cancer survivors (BCS) often experience persistent pain, and researchers are investigating whether quantitative sensory testing (QST) can identify differences in sensory function that distinguish those with and without pain.

Researchers started a retrospective study to compare somatosensory profiles and QST parameters of BCS with and without persistent pain in HCs and patients with fibromyalgia.

They divided the 128 participants into four equal groups: HCs, BCS with persistent pain, BCS without constant pain, and patients with fibromyalgia. Nine QST parameters were assessed at the trunk, a remote location, and somatosensory profiles were determined by Z-score transformation of QST data using normative data from healthy controls.

The results showed BCS with persistent pain exhibited sensory aberrations in 71.43% (5 out of 7) QST parameters compared to healthy controls, including pressure pain threshold, mechanical detection, and thermal thresholds. In contrast, pain-free BCS displayed similar sensory aberrations in 57.14% (4 out of 7) QST parameters compared to healthy controls, including mechanical detection and thermal thresholds. Notably, temporal summation and conditioned pain modulation did not significantly differ between groups.

Investigators concluded that BCS with persistent pain showed abnormal pain processing, heightened pain facilitation, and greater psychological stress compared to all groups.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.2257