The Paclitaxel Acute Pain Syndrome: Sensitization of Nociceptors as the Putative Mechanism

Abstract

Based on the nature and temporal occurrence of the paclitaxel acute pain syndrome symptoms, we infer that the paclitaxel acute pain syndrome occurs as a result of sensitization of nociceptors, their fibers, or the spinothalamic system. This proposed neurologic etiology of this pain may also explain the subsequent development in some patients of a symmetric length-dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy. The mechanism of this syndrome needs further study.