Testosterone therapy helps alleviate menopause symptoms in breast cancer survivors

In perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with a history of breast cancer, testosterone therapy appears to yield substantial improvements in menopause symptoms, as shown in a small retrospective study.

The UK-based retrospective cohort study included 47 female breast cancer survivors (mean age 48.1 years, mean time since breast cancer diagnosis 6 years) who were experiencing menopausal symptoms.

The Menopause Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ) was used to assess the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms before and after treatment with transdermal testosterone.

Menopausal symptom burden at baseline was high, with more than 90 percent of women having fatigue (98 percent), cognitive symptoms (96 percent), and reduced libido (96 percent).

After a mean of 3.7 months of transdermal testosterone therapy, significant reductions were observed in the prevalence of night sweats (from 78.7 percent to 55.3 percent; p=0.03), anxiety/panic (from 78.7 percent to 51.1 percent; p=0.01), feeling unhappy/depressed (from 80.9 percent to 51.1 percent; p=0.005), anhedonia (from 80.9 percent to 59.6 percent; p=0.04), and palpitations (from 59.6 percent to 31.9 percent; p=0.013).

The mean MSQ score decreased from 30.81 at baseline to 20.47 after treatment (p<0.001). Results of an analysis excluding libido were similar, with the mean MSQ score decreasing from 28.36 at baseline to 18.43 after treatment (p≤0.001).

Severity of most symptoms (20 of 24) significantly decreased with treatment.

Placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials are needed to evaluate the effect of transdermal testosterone therapy on menopausal symptoms beyond reduced libido and establish its long-term safety in women with a history of breast cancer.