Effect of Kinesiotaping for the Treatment of Hormone-induced Myalgia in Women Given Breast Cancer Survivors (KITMYCAN)

Effect of Kinesiotaping for the Treatment of Hormone-induced Myalgia in Women: Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: It has been demonstrated that aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are more effective than tamoxifen in reducing breast cancer recurrence. However, despite the excellent results, the side effects associated with them cause between 24.5 and 31.3% therapy abandon. This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of Neuromuscular Taping (NMT) in the treatment of myalgia and arthralgia induced by AIs in women who have had breast cancer. Our goal is to improve their pain, decreasing by 20% the values of their Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at various points in order to improve symptoms and increase adherence.

Methods/Design: The study includes 156 breast cancer survivors treated with endocrine therapy (aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors) from Virgen de la Victoria Hospital (Málaga, Spain) and musculoskeletal disorders resulting from such treatment. Clinical and patient data were obtained from medical histories, genetic and proteomic analysis, grip strength and algometry measured, questionnaires and the outcome of interest, their VAS. NMT is applied in four possible locations, according to the symptoms of each participant: carpal tunnel, cervical, lumbar or lumbar and cervical. There are several more interventions before repeating the readings from the last five weeks of the start of the study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breast Neoplasms
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Neuromuscular taping

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 156
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Malaga, Spain
    • Regional University Hospital Virgen de la Victoria

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• To be of legal age
• Having suffered from primary breast cancer with histological confirmation (I-IIIA)
• Completion of primary carcinoma treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy)
• To be receiving hormone therapy as an adjunct to the process by aromatase inhibitors (exemestane, anastrozole, letrozole)
• To present a functional status according to WHO from 0 (asymptomatic, complete and ambulatory activity) or 1 (symptomatic but completely ambulatory, strenuous physical activity restricted but able to perform sedentary gentle activities)
• To understand correctly Spanish
• To show their approval by signing the informed consent
• Having had musculoskeletal disorders attributable to IA.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Neuromuscular taping; The first group will receive a decalogue of healthy tips (general, to lead an active life) based on the best available evidence, and several strips of neuromuscular bandage will be applied on areas that refer pain (cervical, lumbosacral, both or wrist-forearm).	Drug: Neuromuscular taping; The first group will receive a decalogue of healthy tips (general, to lead an active life) based on the best available evidence, and several strips of neuromuscular bandage will be applied on areas that refer pain (cervical, lumbosacral, both or wrist-forearm).; Other Names: Kinesio taping
No Intervention: No Kinesio taping

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Medical questionnaire	A record will be kept of some medical data such as tumor grade, types carried, complementary treatments and end date, and the type of hormone therapy received and start date. The possible presence of comorbidities will also be collected. Genetic determinants. Analyze genetic determinants due to the importance of genetic background on AIA and abandonment of therapy (Garcia-Giralt N., 2013). Estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1), aromatase (CYP19A1) and steroid, 17-alpha-hydroxylase / 17,20 lyase (CYP17A1) (Garcia-Giralt N., 2013), (Henry NL, 2012) and (Mao JJ, 2011) have been selected as candidate genes. Samples for extracting genes will be collected in both cases with controls on the baseline and the end of it. The DNA is extracted from whole blood using the DNA Blood Maxi Qiafilter (Qiagen, Inc., Valencia, CA) (Henry NL, 2013) kit.	10 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sociodemographic and anthropometric questionnaire	This questionnaire will contain information on the following variables: gender and date of birth, marital status... Add basic anthropometric data such as weight, height, BMI, waist circumference and hip.	10 minutes
Plasma proteins (or proteomic analysis)	For our analysis investigators use four plasma proteins: serum amyloid A, collectin, immunoglobulin G (IgG) light chain kappa and add C1Q (Minton O., 2013).	10 minutes
PPT	The pain threshold pressure is defined as the minimum amount of pressure with which an initial feeling of pressure switches to pain. (Vanderweeën L. 1996). PPT measurements were performed on: Cervical Musculature in space interapofisario C5-C6.; Lumbosacral Musculature: an L4 level on the erector spinae muscle.; Median nerve as it passes through the carpal bones.	10 minutes
Grip strength as measured by a Dynamometer	This instrument will be used to measure grip strength of both upper limbs. This test of strength has been previously used to measure the loss of strength in breast cancer survivors (Kaya T, 2010), even in cases where patients were treated with IAs (Lintermans A., 2011) . The dynamometer has proven to be the safest [ICC = 0.98] and most valid [ICC = 0.99] method to measure grip strength of the hand. (Bellace JV, 2000).	5 minutes
POMS	This is a scale to measure the profile of mood states. It consists of 65 items with five possible answers. The questionnaire delivered to patients is frequently used for study of breast cancer survivors (Cantarero-Villanueva, 2011). The reliability of the Spanish version of the POMS is high (Cronbach's α ranging from .76 to 0.91).	10 minutes
quality of life as assessed by QuickPIPER questionnaire	Tool used to determine the degree of perception that cancer patients have of their feelings of fatigue and how it alters their quality of life. This short version of the questionnaire proved to be adequate, with values of Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin (0.89) and Bartlett's sphericity test (P <0.001) index. The goodness of fit indices of confirmatory factor analysis are (normed fit index = 0.91 and = 0.92 comparative rate setting) satisfactory. The test-retest reliability of this questionnaire is very good (r = 0.947, P <0.001). (AI Cuesta-Vargas, 2013).	10 minutes
EORTC QLQ-C30	This is a specific questionnaire for cancer, "core", created by the EORTC Group. It consists of 30 items to assess HRQOL and physical, emotional, social status and overall functioning of patients diagnosed with cancer. The questions refer to the last week from the date on which the respondent completed the form. It is organised in several multi-item scales and some independent items. The reliability of the QLQ-C30 is adequate, with Cronbach Alpha values between 0.52 and 0.89 in different scales. (Moro D.,2011)	10 minutes
pain as measured by VAS	The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was designed to allow a subjective assessment of pain. A VAS is usually a horizontal line of 10 cm. with perpendicular lines at the ends, which are defined as the extreme limits of the painful experience. Previous studies have shown that the VAS has adequate psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability (r = 0.78) and convergent validity with other measures of pain such as the McGill Pain Questionnaire (r = 0.49 to 0.65) (Sriwatanakul K ., 1983).	10 minutes
SFI-Sp	For this study we will use the Spanish version (SFI-Sp), since it has proven to be a valid and reliable measure of the spinal region result. This regional tool reflects the status and any change in the kinetic chain of the spine. This questionnaire has demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.85) and reliability (r = 0.96) (AI Cuesta-Vargas, 2014).	10 minutes
ULFI-Sp	This study uses the Spanish version (ULFI-Sp). This questionnaire has demonstrated high internal consistency (α = 0.94) and reliability (r = 0.93), making it a very useful tool for the evaluation of patients with disorders of the upper limbs, in both the clinical and research fields (AI Cuesta-Vargas, 2013).	10 minutes
BADIX	This Index includes a score for five movements of the trunk upright that result in Back Pain Index (BAI) and a record of "Morning Stiffness in the Back" (MBS). The sum of the BAI and MBS gives the BADIX (max. 20 points) (Kovacs FM, 2002). The BADIX appears to be a valid and reliable tool for the evaluation of morning stiffness restricting the mobility of the back, and discriminates whether the result of a treatment has been successful or not. (Farasyn A., 2013). This new Back Pain Disability index seems reliable (test-retest after 3 days) and is valid in the case of significant clinical change; it has also been shown to have discriminatory power and effect size comparable to other indices in assessing disability of patients with low back pain sensitivity. (Farasyn A., 2013).	10 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Malaga
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Inmaculada Conejo-Tirado, University of Malaga

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Conejo I, Pajares B, Alba E, Cuesta-Vargas AI. Effect of neuromuscular taping on musculoskeletal disorders secondary to the use of aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer survivors: a pragmatic randomised clinical trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2018 Jun 11;18(1):180. doi: 10.1186/s12906-018-2236-3.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 30, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 1, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): April 2, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 31, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 30, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Breast cancer; Hormonal therapy; Arthralgia; Aromatase inhibitors; Kinesio taping; Carpal tunnel syndrome; Myalgia; Pressure pain threshold; Neuromuscular taping; Estrogen deprivation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Skin Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Breast Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Pain; Breast Neoplasms; Myalgia
• Other Study ID Numbers: FCCSS-UMA_01-13