ESTRO 2022

Session Item

Gynaecological

Session Type: Poster (digital)

Track: Clinical

Journey:

Early menopause induced by oncological treatments in breast and cervical cancer

Rosario Ching-Lopez, Spain

Presentation Number: PO-1332

Abstract

Abstract Title:

Early menopause induced by oncological treatments in breast and cervical cancer

Authors:

Rosario Ching-López¹, Pilar Vargas², Sara Rodríguez², Laura Cámara³, Pilar Galván², Alba María Ruiz², Mercedes Zurita²

¹Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Radiation Oncology , Granada, Spain; ²Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Radiation Oncology, Granada, Spain; ³Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Nursing Department, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Granada, Spain

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Purpose or Objective

To evaluate the impact on quality of life (QoL) in women diagnosed with breast or cervical

cancer under 40 years of age after completing different cancer treatments in a single

institution, in terms of genitourinary syndrome (GSM) associated to early treatmentinduced

menopause, and to expose the imperative need for a holistic approach to young

female cancer patients.

Material and Methods

We retrospectively reviewed a total of 31 female patients diagnosed in our centre with

breast or cervical cancer under 40 years old who had completed systemic treatment or

pelvic radiation therapy between January 2018 and January 2021. They filled out the

QOL-C30 survey (version 3) of the European Organization for Research and Treatment

of Cancer (EORTC) and the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), validated in Spanish.

Results

13 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer and 18 had cervical cancer. Most of the

patients (87.1%) referred serious or extremely serious sexual problems (change in

sexual desire, in sexual activity and satisfaction), 61.3% marked bladder problems,

(difficulty in urinating, increased need to urinate, bladder incontinence) and 83.8%

complained about dryness of vagina (sensation of dryness or burning in the vagina,

difficulty with sexual intercourse). Classified by different treatments received, 100% of

the patients who underwent pelvic surgery and 100% of patients treated with pelvic

radiotherapy +/- brachytherapy indicated "extremely severe" in the presence of vaginal

dryness, compared to 73.7% of the patients who received chemotherapy, and only

33.3% of breast cancer patients treated with exclusive hormonal therapy.

Conclusion

As radiation oncologists, paying attention to toxicities related to oncological treatments is essential. Leaving taboos behind, it must be mandatory to ask for manifestations associated to cancer treatment-induced GSM in terms of vaginal dryness and sexual problems, specially in our young female cancer patients, and to offer them all the means available not only to improve but to prevent these symptons.