Association between C-reactive protein and radiotherapy-related pain in a tri-racial/ethnic population of breast cancer patients: a prospective cohort study

Lee, Eunkyung; Nelson, Omar L.; Puyana, Carolina; Takita, Cristiane; Wright, Jean L.; Zhao, Wei; Reis, Isildinha M.; Lin, Rick Y.; Hlaing, WayWay M.; Bakalar, Johnna L.; Yang, George R.; Hu, Jennifer J.

doi:10.1186/s13058-019-1151-y

Table 3 Pre-RT, post-RT, and RT-related pain by selected variables and CRP status

From: Association between C-reactive protein and radiotherapy-related pain in a tri-racial/ethnic population of breast cancer patients: a prospective cohort study

Variable	Categories	Pre-RT pain¹ (N = 349)					Post-RT pain¹ (N = 335)					RT-related pain² (N = 262)
		No (< 4)		Yes (≥ 4)			No (< 4)		Yes (≥ 4)			No		Yes
		N	%	N	%	P ³	N	%	N	%	P ³	N	%	N	%	P ³
Total		290	83	59	17		233	70	102	30		203	77	59	23
Race/ethnicity	NHW	53	96	2	4	0.016	45	88	6	12	0.003	42	89	5	11	0.018
	AA	58	82	13	18		42	60	28	40		37	66	19	34
	HW	179	80	44	20		146	68	68	32		124	78	35	22
Age (years)	< 50	75	81	17	19	0.639	51	60	34	40	0.027	46	69	21	31	0.045
Age (years)	≥ 50	215	84	42	16		182	73	68	27		157	81	38	19
BMI (kg/m²)	< 25	84	88	11	12	0.009	68	81	16	19	0.001	63	85	11	15	0.075
	25–29.99	101	88	14	12		85	74	30	26		73	78	20	22
	≥ 30	105	75	34	25		80	59	56	41		67	71	28	29
Sum of 12 comorbid conditions⁴	0	114	84	22	16	0.897	103	75	34	25	0.009	87	83	18	17	0.009
	1	111	83	22	17		88	73	33	27		79	81	18	19
	2	48	83	10	17		32	57	24	43		28	64	16	36
	≥ 3	17	77	5	23		10	48	11	52		9	56	7	44
HER2	Positive	18	62	11	38	0.004	16	59	11	41	0.294	10	71	4	29	0.676
HER2	Negative	220	84	42	16		177	69	79	31		155	76	48	24
Chemotherapy	None	159	85	27	15	0.140	128	72	50	28	0.455	115	80	29	20	0.416
	Taxane	123	79	32	21		100	68	48	32		83	75	27	25
	Other	8	100	0	0		5	56	4	44		5	63	3	38
Trastuzumab	No	274	85	49	15	0.005	218	70	92	30	0.281	194	78	55	22	0.497
Trastuzumab	Yes	16	61	10	39		15	60	10	40		9	69	4	31
Taxane+trastuzumab	None/other chemo only	166	86	26	14	0.012	132	71	53	29	0.558	120	79	31	21	0.667
	Either	109	82	24	18		87	68	40	32		74	75	25	25
	Both	15	62	9	38		14	61	9	39		9	75	3	25
Axillary surgery	None/SLNB	205	86	33	14	0.027	163	72	63	28	0.141	145	78	40	22	0.590
Axillary surgery	ALND	85	77	26	23		70	64	39	36		58	75	19	25
RT fractionation	Conventional	240	82	52	18	0.309	190	67	94	33	0.013	165	75	55	25	0.028
RT fractionation	Hypo	50	88	7	12		43	84	8	16		38	90	4	10
Total RT dose (Gy)	< 60	92	89	11	11	0.045	74	80	19	20	0.014	66	84	13	16	0.123
Total RT dose (Gy)	≥ 60	198	80	48	20		159	66	83	34		137	75	46	25
Pre-RT CRP (mg/L)	< 10	256	85	45	15	0.006	210	73	79	27	0.001	183	79	48	21	0.056
Pre-RT CRP (mg/L)	≥ 10	30	68	14	32		20	48	22	52		17	63	10	37
Post-RT CRP (mg/L)	< 10	234	83	47	17	0.410	203	71	82	29	0.077	175	78	49	22	0.373
Post-RT CRP (mg/L)	≥ 10	32	78	9	22		23	58	17	43		22	71	9	29
RT-related CRP change (mg/L)	≤ 1	192	82	41	18	0.992	170	72	67	28	0.140	151	82	34	18	0.006
RT-related CRP change (mg/L)	> 1	70	82	15	18		53	63	31	37		43	65	23	35

¹Pain score ≥ 4 (moderate or severe pain) was considered yes for clinically relevant pain
²Patients with pre-RT pain score < 4 and post-RT pain score ≥ 4 or < 4 were considered yes or no for RT-related pain
³P values were from the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test excluding missing. Significant findings are in italics
⁴Sum of 12 patient-reported comorbid conditions: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, thyroid disease, cirrhosis liver, stroke, chronic bronchitis, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and 2 others

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ISSN: 1465-542X

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