Vaginal Estrogen Therapy for Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

On account of the good prognosis for patients with breast cancer, improving or maintaining the quality of life in the aftercare period is becoming more and more important. In particular, the increasing usage of aromatase inhibitors in the past few years has led to an increased incidence of vaginal atrophy with symptoms such as vaginal dryness, petechial bleeding, dyspareunia and recurrent cystitis. And just these symptoms have a detrimental impact on the quality of life of breast cancer patients. Application of a topical estrogen therapy represents the most effective means to treat vaginal atrophy. The use of a systemic or, respectively, topical hormone therapy is, however, contraindicated for breast cancer patients. Further clinical trials are needed in order to assess the safety of vaginal estrogen therapy.

Zusammenfassung

Aufgrund der guten Prognose von Mammakarzinompatientinnen nimmt die Verbesserung bzw. Erhaltung der Lebensqualität in der Nachsorge einen zunehmenden Stellenwert ein. Gerade der vermehrte Einsatz von Aromatasehemmern hat in den vergangenen Jahren zu einer Zunahme der vaginalen Atrophie mit Symptomen wie Scheidentrockenheit, petechialen Blutungen, Dyspareunie und rezidivierenden Zystitiden geführt. Gerade diese Symptome beeinflussen in gravierender Weise die Lebensqualität von Mammakarzinompatientinnen. Die Anwendung einer lokalen Östrogentherapie stellt die effektivste Behandlungsform der Vaginalatrophie dar. Die Anwendung einer systemischen bzw. einer lokalen Hormontherapie bei Brustkrebspatientinnen ist jedoch kontraindiziert. Zur Beurteilung der Sicherheit einer vaginalen ET sind weitere klinische Studien erforderlich.

Key words

breast cancer - vaginal atrophy - hormone therapy - quality of life

Schlüsselwörter

Mammakarzinom - Vaginalatrophie - Hormontherapie - Lebensqualität

• References

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