Addressing sexual overall health problems of breast cancer individuals on endocrine therapy

Breast cancer therapies that can save a woman’s life can seriously harm her sexual overall health, says Dr. Kristin E. Rojas, a breast cancer surgeon at Sylvester Complete Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller College of Medicine. While medical doctors have not historically been ready to enable individuals handle these toxic side effects, Rojas is major efforts to turn the tide.

Rojas, each a fellowship-educated breast surgical oncologist and a gynecologic surgeon, is a national leader in treating sexual dysfunction in female individuals undergoing cancer remedy. Other, a lot more broadly recognized side effects of lifesaving estrogen-blocking medicines – also identified as endocrine therapy – include things like challenges with pregnancy organizing for premenopausal individuals and decreased bone mineralization. According to Rojas, all 3 of these subjects need to be addressed as early as doable when organizing a course of therapy for a breast cancer patient with an estrogen-sensitive tumor.

Rojas will recognize dangers posed by endocrine therapies, define symptoms and go over remedy solutions in a presentation at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

“By working with endocrine therapy to treat hormone-optimistic breast cancers, we’re placing several young girls into menopause, but we’re not carrying out a fantastic job preparing them for it,” stated Rojas, who produced a plan to address women’s sexual overall health following cancer remedy, the Menopause Urogenital Sexual Wellness and Intimacy Clinic (MUSIC) at Sylvester. Faced with unexpectedly higher demand, the clinic necessary to expand quickly following opening in 2020. Because Rojas expanded the plan by coaching extra authorities to accommodate this fantastic require, the MUSIC plan has turn out to be a prototype for comparable applications across the nation. It remains the only women’s oncology-focused sexual overall health plan led by a dual-educated surgeon in the United States.

Individuals are normally hesitant to bring up sexual overall health problems with their providers, and that is why we produced this groundbreaking plan exactly where individuals can openly go over these problems in a a single-on-a single survivorship plan. If we never address these popular issues knowledgeable by a lot more than 80% of female survivors of cancer, patient adherence to endocrine remedy decreases, and the progress we have produced in enhancing breast cancer survival is impeded.”

Kristin E. Rojas, breast cancer surgeon at Sylvester Complete Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller College of Medicine

Rojas’ ASCO presentation will enable providers anticipate and treat the most popular side effects knowledgeable by individuals on endocrine therapy (or estrogen-blocking medicines), formulate a customized remedy strategy, guide individuals toward proof-primarily based practices and away from potentially damaging “fringe” therapies, and troubleshoot popular pitfalls encountered in the remedy of menopausal symptoms.

Amongst particular subjects:

• Hot flashes – causes, triggers and therapies.
• Vaginal dryness and painful sex – causes, irritants, and adjustments to the vaginal microbiome.
• Genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) – causes, therapies, lubricants, devices and medication solutions.
• Solutions, “therapies” and devices to prevent.
• Infertility danger and solutions for fertility preservation.
• Decreased bone mineralization and enhanced fracture danger – monitoring and prevention tactics.

Rojas’ presentation is aspect of a session she will chair: “A Juggling Act: Managing the Toxicity of Estrogen Deprivation for Individuals With Breast Cancer,” Education Session E451. It will commence at eight a.m. June five, 2023 (CDT), aspect of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.