Frequency of Myalgia in Patients with Gynecological Cancer
Author(s)
Sreenivasan S1, Samuel P2, Krishna Murthy M3, Vinayak VM4
1Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, bangalore, KA, India, 2Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Pathenamthitta, KA, India, 3Faculty of pharmacy, M.S.Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, India, 4Ramaiah Hospitals, Bangalore, India
OBJECTIVES The study aims to assess the frequency of myalgia in gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy METHODS A prospective observational study was conducted among 42 gynecological cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital, subjects received treatment for cancer for a period of six months. The data collected from the study included demographics, age, total number of cycles, occurrence of myalgia. Patients and care givers were interviewed for occurrence, duration and extent of pain. The severity of pain was graded using National Cancer Institute- Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events- (NCI-CTCAEv5.0). RESULTS A total of 235 patients were screened of which of 42 patients {cervical (25), ovarian (14), uterine (3)} were included in the study. Patients received Cisplatin (17), Carboplatin (4), Doxorubicin (2), Paclitaxel (15), and Paclitaxel and Carboplatin (4) for chemotherapy. Myalgia was seen in 20 patients. The frequency of myalgia was 20/42 (47.6%). The cases of myalgia with paclitaxel was the highest with 12 (60%) followed by cisplatin 5 (25%). The CTCAEv5.0 grade showed mild in 3 cases, moderate in 8 cases and severe in 9 cases out of the 20 patients. CONCLUSIONS Myalgia is an adverse reaction that occurs post chemotherapy in cancer patients. Its presence is associated with reduced quality of life and increased analgesic use. In gynecological cancers, along with radiotherapy, chemotherapy is also a stay of treatment, making patients susceptible to myalgia.
Code
PCN61