Seed Grants - A Pilot Study of Association of BIOmarkers and Neuropathic Pain with Intercostobrachial Nerves

A Pilot Study of Association of BIOmarkers and Neuropathic Pain with Intercostobrachial Nerves Sparing in breast surgery to improve Persistent postsurgical pain-an International RandomizEd controlled trial (BIO-INSPIRE)

Primary Investigator: Harsha Shanthanna, MD, PhD, FRCPC

Start Date: 2021

Brief Overview and Progress to Date

BIO-INSPIRE is a feasibility study that aims to evaluate cytokine levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα and neuropathic pain in patients participating in the INSPIRE study (a multi-centre pilot study of 50 patients to establish the effect of intercostobrachial nerve preservation on persistent post-surgical pain following breast cancer surgery) and underwent axillary lymph node dissection during breast cancer surgery. The INSPIRE study recruited participants from two hospitals in Canada and two hospitals in India and 46 of the 50 patients were included in the BIOINSPIRE study. Study samples of BIOINSPIRE were analyzed at Hamilton (Canada) and Bangalore (India) separately. Presently, we are working on the statistical analysis and we plan to publish the study results in the next few months.