Early menopause and infertility in females after treatment for childhood cancer diagnosed in 1964-1988 in Ontario, Canada.
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This study was conducted to determine the risk of menopause and infertility in female childhood cancer survivors who received abdominal-pelvic radiation and/or chemotherapy with alkylating agents in comparison with those who were treated by nonsterilizing surgery only. Females who were diagnosed in 1964-1988 before age 20 years with a histologically confirmed malignancy and who had survived for at least 5 years, had attained age 18, and were alive at time of study were identified through the Ontario Cancer Registry. Reproductive outcomes were ascertained by a telephone-administered questionnaire, and treatment data were abstracted from medical records for 830 subjects aged 18-49 years; 719 survivors who were nonmenopausal at the end of treatment were included in the analyses. Survivors who received both alkylating agents and abdominal-pelvic radiation were more likely to be postmenopausal than were those who underwent surgery (risk ratio = 2.58; 95% confidence interval: 1.14, 5.80). Women treated with abdominal-pelvic radiation alone had a fertility deficit of 23% compared with those in the surgery group; the deficit was restricted to women diagnosed postpuberty. Risks of menopause and infertility increased with increasing dose of abdominal-pelvic radiation and amount of alkylating agent. (+info)
The idiopathic forms of premature menopause and early menopause show the same genetic pattern.
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Genetic factors may influence the timing of menopause. Premature ovarian failure (POF) has recently been identified as a genetic entity, but no genetic data are available on early menopause (EM). We investigated 36 patients with EM (age of menopause between 40 and 45 years of age) using cytogenetic and pedigree analysis. In 30 patients of this study the EM was idiopathic and 15 subjects (50%) had a familial condition of EM or POF. Pedigree analysis revealed a dominant pattern of inheritance of EM through maternal or paternal relatives. Our data reveal that POF and EM patients show the same genetic features and we postulate that these conditions may be a variable expression of the same genetic disease. (+info)
Risk of menopause during the first year after breast cancer diagnosis.
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PURPOSE: Premenopausal women with breast cancer often enter a premature menopause during initial treatment of their malignancy, with resulting loss of childbearing capacity, onset of menopausal symptoms, and subsequent prolonged exposure to long-term risks of menopause. Adjuvant therapy is believed to contribute to this early menopause. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred eighty-three premenopausal women with locoregional breast cancer (tumor-node-metastasis staging system classification, T1-3 N0-1 M0) who had undergone surgical treatment and provided information on menopausal status at diagnosis and 1 year later were enrolled. Systemic adjuvant therapy was recorded. Univariate and multivariate predictors of menopause were examined. RESULTS: Age, weight gain, tumor stage, nodal stage, and systemic adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy, tamoxifen) were all significant univariate correlates of menopause. In multivariate analysis, age, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy (tamoxifen) made significant independent contributions to the onset of menopause. CONCLUSION: Age and systemic chemotherapy are the strongest predictors of menopause in women with locoregional breast cancer. They independently contribute to menopause. A graphic representation of our multivariate model allows an estimation of risk of menopause according to patient age and planned adjuvant treatment, and it may facilitate clinical decision-making. (+info)
Safety and efficacy of oestriol for symptoms of natural or surgically induced menopause.
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To assess the safety and efficacy of oestriol in relieving post-menopausal symptoms 53 post-menopausal Japanese women with climacteric symptoms, 27 with natural menopause (group I) and 26 with surgically induced menopause (group II), received oral oestriol, 2 mg daily for 12 months. Clinical parameters including Kupperman index (KI) and the degree of satisfaction with symptomatic relief; serum concentrations of oestradiol, FSH and LH; serum lipids; blood pressure; bone mineral density, serum calcium (Ca), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and urinary Ca were compared between the two groups. Oestriol improved KI in groups I and II by 49 and 80% respectively. Satisfaction with treatment was 85% in group I and 93% in group II. For both parameters, values were significantly different between groups I and II (P < 0.05 for both). Serum concentrations of oestradiol, FSH and LH changed in group I versus group II 6 months after initiation. A significant decrease in serum ALP and Ca/Cr was observed in group I at 6 months. Except for serum triglycerides, oestriol had no significant effect on lipids. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly decreased in group I at 3 months versus baseline. Slight vaginal bleeding occurred in 14.3% of group I. Histological evaluation of the endometrium in all women of group I and ultrasound assessment of the breasts following 12 months of oestriol treatment found normal results in all women. Therefore, oestriol appeared to be safe and effective in relieving symptoms of menopausal women. The beneficial biochemical effects of oestriol were marked in the natural menopause. Overall, oestriol may serve as a good choice for hormone replacement therapy to protect against other climacteric symptoms in post-menopausal women who do not need medication for osteoporosis or coronary artery disease. (+info)
Use of clomiphene and luteinizing hormone/follicle stimulating hormone-releasing hormone in investigation of ovulatory failure.
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A luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone-releasing hormone (LH/FSH-RH) test was performed in 70 women with amenorrhoea or anovulatory infertility, or both, and a clomiphene stimulation test was also performed in 24 of these patients. Most patients responded to LH/FSH-RH with significant increases in LH and FSH. In women with gonadal dysgenesis or premature ovarian failure exaggerated responses were observed after LH/FSH-RH and there was no change in high basal LH levels after clomiphene. Patients with absent or impaired responses to LH/FSH-RH failed to respond to clomiphene. All patients with anovulatory menstrual cycles responded to both LH/FSH-RH and clomiphene, while seven out of 13 amenorrhoeic patients with a normal LH/FSH-RH response showed an early LH rise during clomiphene treatment and six were unresponsive. These results suggest a difference between the two groups at hypothalamic level with consequent therapeutic implications. (+info)
Successful pregnancies following an egg donation program in women with previously treated Hodgkin's disease.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In order to draw attention not only to patients affected by a neoplasia, but also to those who may have problems of sterility, we describe six women affected by Hodgkin's disease who had precocious menopause due to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy but who were safely delivered of children. These pregnancies were achieved through oocyte donation, in vitro fertilization and intrauterine embryo transfer or oocyte intracytoplasmic insemination. DESIGN AND METHODS: During natural or iatrogenic menopause, the uterus preserves its capacity to respond to steroidal hormones and to permit implantation and development of an embryo. Our study concerns six young females with iatrogenic menopause caused by treatment of Hodgkin's disease who carried a pregnancy to term. The pregnancies were achieved by oocyte donation, in vitro fertilization and intrauterine embryo transfer or oocyte intracytoplasmic insemination. Endometrial maturation was obtained by administration of estradiol and progesterone. Steroidal therapy was administered until the 13th-14th week in relation to placental function. RESULTS: Five of the 6 females underwent Caesarean section because of a twin birth or complications during the third trimester of pregnancy (gestosis). All the delivered children are, to date, well; their median age is 4 years. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the possibility of women treated for Hodgkin's disease being able to carry a pregnancy safely to term with the help of steroidal therapy. Careful clinical and obstetric surveillance is important. Focusing attention on long-term survivors of Hodgkin's disease, we set the goal of improving the quality of life of these patients, considering their psychophysical well-being as a whole. Greater attention to the problems of safeguarding fertility in these patients would be advisable, also in the light of legislative regulation of medical care techniques in various countries. (+info)
Is open-angle glaucoma associated with early menopause? The Rotterdam Study.
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The authors examined the association between age at menopause and open-angle glaucoma among women aged > or = 55 years in the population-based Rotterdam Study (1990--1993). Information on age and type of menopause was obtained by interview. Subjects (n = 3,078) were stratified into three categories according to age at menopause: <45 years, 45--49 years, and > or = 50 years, with the last group serving as the reference group. Diagnosis of open-angle glaucoma was based on the presence of a glaucomatous visual field defect and glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Open-angle glaucoma was diagnosed in 78 women with a natural menopause and 15 women with an artificial menopause. In the category of natural menopause, women who went through menopause before reaching the age of 45 years had a higher risk of open-angle glaucoma than the reference group (odds ratio = 2.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.5, 4.8), after adjustment for age and use of hormone replacement therapy. Among women who went through menopause between the ages of 45 and 49 years, the odds ratio was 1.1 (95% confidence interval: 0.7, 2.0). These findings suggest that early menopause is associated with a higher risk of open-angle glaucoma. (+info)
Menopause in type 1 diabetic women: is it premature?
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Women with type 1 diabetes have a delayed menarche and a greater prevalence of menstrual disorders than women without diabetes. However, little is known about the menopause transition among type 1 diabetic women. The Familial Autoimmune and Diabetes (FAD) Study recruited both adult individuals who were identified from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Type 1 Diabetes Registry for the years 1950-1964 and their family members. Unrelated nondiabetic control probands and their relatives were also evaluated. Women with type 1 diabetes (n = 143) compared with nondiabetic sisters (n = 186) or unrelated control subjects (n = 160) were more likely to have an older age at menarche (13.5, 12.5, and 12.6 years, respectively, P < 0.001), more menstrual irregularities before 30 years of age (45.7, 33.3, and 33.1%, respectively, P = 0.04), and a younger age at menopause (41.6, 49.9, and 48.0 years, respectively, P = 0.05). This resulted in a 6-year reduction in the number of reproductive years (30.0, 37.0, and 35.2 years, respectively, P = 0.05) for women with type 1 diabetes. Risk factors univariately associated with earlier menopause included type 1 diabetes (hazard ratio [HR] 1.99, P = 0.04), menstrual irregularities before 30 years of age (HR 1.87, P = 0.04), nulliparity (HR 2.14, P = 0.01), and unilateral oophorectomy (HR 6.51, P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that type 1 diabetes (HR 1.98, P = 0.056), menstrual irregularities by 30 years of age (HR 2.36, P = 0.01), and unilateral oophorectomy (HR 9.76, P < 0.0001) were independent determinants of earlier menopause in our cohort. We hypothesize that an earlier menopause, which resulted in a 17% decrease in reproductive years, is a major unstudied complication of type 1 diabetes. (+info)