CDK4/6 Inhibitors and Arthralgia: A Single Institution Experience

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are associated with musculoskeletal pain in one third (20-47%) of breast cancer patients. Recently, CDK4/6 inhibitors have emerged as a new therapeutic approach in hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer. While hematological and gastrointestinal toxicities are frequently reported during treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors, musculoskeletal symptoms are less commonly encountered.

Herein, we present a retrospective study of 47 breast cancer patients who received CDK4/6 inhibitors along with endocrine therapy in our department between 01/01/2018 and 01/09/2020.

Median age at diagnosis was 58 years (29-81). Median duration of treatment was 8.76 months (SD: 7.68; 0.47-30.13 months). Median PFS was 24.33 months (95% CI; 1.71-46.96). Overall, toxicity was reported in 61.7% of the cases (29/47). Arthralgia was reported in 6.4% (3/47) of the patients. Hematological toxicity was reported in 51.1% (24/47) of the patients. Neutropenia was the main hematological toxicity observed (86.8%; 22/47) along with anemia (4.3%; 2/47), thrombocytopenia (2.1%; 1/47), and leukopenia (4.2%; 1/24).

Though our data reflect a small sample size, we report a reduced arthralgia rate (6.4%) during treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors compared with that reported in studies of AIs (20-47%).