Aromotase Inhibitors and cartilage loss
I am 64 years old. I was on tamoxifen for 3 years and and anastrazole for 4 years. I have been off the Anastrazole since end of 2019.
I have severe osteoarthritis in both knees. Bone on bone. Have heard that the estrogen loss accelerates cartilage loss.
Wondering if others have had this experience
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Hi @healthystrong and welcome to Breastcancer.org!
We're so very sorry to hear of the issues you're having, but we're so glad you've found us. You're sure to find our amazing Community a wonderful source of advice, information, encouragement, and support — we're all here for you!
We're sure others will be by shortly to weigh in with their experiences with AIs and cartilage loss. In the meantime, you might find this page helpful:
Specifically, "Aromatase inhibitors lower the amount of estrogen in the body. Researchers aren’t exactly sure why these medicines cause bone and joint pain, but many experts believe that in the absence of estrogen, the bones and cartilage start to degrade and the joints aren't as well lubricated, which causes the pain."
We hope you gain some insight here and others weigh in soon. Let us know if there's anything else we can help with!
—The Mods
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Thank you! I do feel like the AI contributed to my cartilage loss. I was blaming myself for running and thought that did it
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Hi @healthystrong, My MO when I was diagnosed was principally a researcher. He told me there is a SNP on chromosome 14 in about 40% of the population that causes irreversible cartilage degradation when AIs are taken. When I asked why patients weren’t tested to see if they were in that group he said it was too expensive and for many the benefits outweigh the amount of damage done. I guess that’s why some people have no issues but others develop joint problems.
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Hi Maggie! I appreciate you sharing this with me.
I am a runner and am blaming myself for this but now I know that things are a little more nuanced.
Can provide any more information on this study?
I do believe the AIs help with preventing future recurrences of breast cancer and I would still have taken them. But I would have been more proactive in monitoring this. I have not had any major knee pain until a month or so ago.
Hope you are doing well and again thanks for this information0 -
I looked back and tried to access the original paper which was from a Canadian medical journal (the study was done with Canadian, American and Japanese researchers) which no longer comes up. There are other studies explaining it but they don't provide the percentages. Here is a link to the AI summary which refers to the paper I can't access and other papers.
Section 4.2 of this paper explains the effect of lack of estrogen on joint cartilage.
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/16/5625
I hope something can be done for your knee pain. Cortisone shots work well for me but I'm not at the bone on bone stage.
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