Perturbations in neuroinflammatory pathways are associated with paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer survivors

Miaskowski, Christine; Topp, Kimberly; Conley, Yvette P.; Paul, Steven M.; Melisko, Michelle; Schumacher, Mark; Chesney, Margaret; Abrams, Gary; Levine, Jon D.; Kober, Kord M.

Abstract Paclitaxel is a common chemotherapy drug associated with the development of chronic paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). PIPN is associated with neuroinflammatory mechanisms in pre-clinical studies. Here, we evaluated for differential gene expression (DGE) in peripheral blood between breast cancer survivors with and without PIPN and for neuroinflammatory (NI) related signaling pathways and whole-transcriptome profiles from other experiments. Pathway impact analysis identified 8 perturbed NI related pathways. Expression profile analysis found 15 experiments having similar whole-transcriptome profiles of DGE related to neuroinflammation and PIPN. These findings suggest that perturbations in pathways associated with neuroinflammation are found in cancer survivors with PIPN.