Feature of amenorrhea in postoperative tamoxifen users with breast cancer.

Tamoxifen has been used to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. However, tamoxifen-users frequently experience amenorrhea and it can be confused from that caused by other hormonal abnormalities. In amenorrheic patients without breast cancer, clinicians usually measure the sex hormone levels that are known to be associated with ovarian or menstrual function. This study aimed to investigate the feature of female sex hormones in premenopausal breast cancer patients undergoing tamoxifen treatment. The medical records of fifty-nine premenopausal breast cancer patients who underwent tamoxifen treatment were reviewed retrospectively. The study population consisted of amenorrheic patients (n=36) and patients with menstruation (n=23). Serum hormone levels were measured either specifically between cycle days 2 and 5 in menstruating patients or at any time in amenorrheic participants. Serum levels of lutenizing hormone and estradiol were not statistically different according to the presence of menstruation. Serum follicle stimulating hormone level was significantly higher in amenorrheic patients (8.1±5.7 mIU/mL) than those in menstruating subjects (5.1±2.2 mIU/mL) (p=0.01). Serum concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone was lower in patients with amenorrhea (1.5±0.9 vs. 2.3±2.2 μIU/mL, p=0.04), although the prevalence of hypo- or hyperthyroidism was not different according to the pattern of menstruation. Menstruation status and hormone levels can be influenced by tamoxifen use in reproductive age breast cancer patients. Physicians should be attentive to the alteration of pituitary hormone levels in addition to sex steroid hormones in this population.

Kim H ，Han W ，Ku SY ，Suh CS ，Kim SH ，Choi YM ... -  《-》

Ovarian cysts during tamoxifen use may affect the prognostic markers of premenopausal breast cancer.

Han W ，Kim H ，Ku SY ，Kim SH ，Choi YM ，Kim JG ，Moon SY ... -  《-》

Assessment of ovarian function after chemotherapy in women with early and locally advanced breast cancer from Serbia.

Malisic E ，Susnjar S ，Milovanovic J ，Todorovic-Rakovic N ，Kesic V ... -  《-》

Ovarian overstimulation and cystic formation in premenopausal tamoxifen exposure: comparison between tamoxifen-treated and nontreated breast cancer patients.

Tamoxifen is the antihormonal treatment of choice for premenopausal breast cancer patients with advanced breast disease. Its premenopausal administration has been shown to induce supraphysiological 17beta-estradiol serum levels and to be associated with the presence of persistent, bilateral functional ovarian cysts. However, these abnormalities have not yet been compared to controls. In this study we evaluated the possibility that the above hormonal and/or ovarian abnormalities are more frequent among premenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen than among similar nontreated patients, and thus they may be attributed to tamoxifen effect. We evaluated serum hormone levels of 17beta-estradiol, follicular-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and progesterone, the presence of ovarian cysts, and various demographic and clinical characteristics in 20 premenopausal breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen (study group) and compared them to those observed in 12 similar nontreated patients (control group). Ovarian cysts were found in 80% of the study patients and only in 8.3% of the control patients (P = 0.001). The incidence of oligomenorrhea was nearly significantly higher in the study than in the control group (50 and 16.7%, respectively; P = 0.0651). Various serum hormone levels tested were not found to be significantly different between the two groups, except for 17beta-estradiol serum levels as detected on days 14 and 21 of the menstrual cycle, which were significantly higher among the study than in the control patients. (Day 14 serum estradiol: 757.7 +/- 372.0 pg/mL versus 206.5 +/- 275.0 pg/mL, P = 0.0012. Day 21 serum estradiol: 300.0 +/- 134.5 pg/mL versus 96.5 +/- 71.5 pg/mL, P = 0.0008.) Tamoxifen treatment increases the incidence of ovarian cysts and the significantly higher 17beta-estradiol serum levels in premenopausal breast cancer patients.

Cohen I ，Figer A ，Tepper R ，Shapira J ，Altaras MM ，Yigael D ，Beyth Y ... -  《GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY》

Incidence of chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure in premenopausal women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Tiong V ，Rozita AM ，Taib NA ，Yip CH ，Ng CH ... -  《-》