Editor-in-Chief: Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD
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BACKGROUND: Patients with breast cancer can have a prolonged survival due to the advances in treatment; however, they are more likely to go to a pain clinic for the side effects and pain associated with treatment. The patient provided HIPAA compliant consent for the inclusion of their clinical information in this report.
CASE REPORT: A 32-year-old woman with breast cancer had brain metastases during treatment for relapse and received multiple stereotactic radiotherapies. She visited our pain clinic on foot with a complaint of numbness in her fingertips, which was probably due to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Moreover, transient neurological symptoms were observed in bilateral arms and low back. Two weeks after the initial presentation, tumors in the cauda equina and spinal cord caused lower and upper-limb pain and paralysis.
CONCLUSION: When patients with breast cancer undergoing relapse treatment present with neurological symptoms, the cause should be actively investigated.
KEY WORDS: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, recurrent breast cancer, meningeal carcinomatosis, supportive care
