Painful Hands and Feet After Cancer Treatment: Inflammation Affecting the Mind-Body Connection

open access: Editorial

 With the growing number of cancer survivors, it is critical for us to consider toxicities that arise during treatment and do not resolve after treatment ends. Some symptoms continue to burden patients for many years after the cancer has been cured, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a conspicuous example. CIPN has taken on considerable prominence in the past decade with the more widespread use of the vinca alkaloids, taxanes, platinum analogs, and bortezomib, with an overall incidence estimated at 38%.^1,2 Unfortunately, CIPN has been resistant to multiple strategies aimed at its prevention or treatment once established.^1,3 A critical step in the development of new approaches to management of a cancer treatment–related symptom is to have a better understanding of the mechanism(s) associated with its development, and/or identification of those individuals who are at particularly high risk for experiencing the symptom or having persistent difficulties.^4-7 We are fortunate that there is increasing research interest in symptom science, and the paper by Nudelman et al^{8 (in breast cancer patients)} that accompanies this editorial is an example of this type of work....

 We must be clinically attuned to the complaints our patients voice, and we must make a serious effort to develop prevention and treatment strategies that will reduce the burden of cancer treatment–associated toxicities.

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