For young women undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy, early menopause and infertility are two serious threats, according to Pannochka, an online publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35.. net Now, researchers at Loyola University Medical Center Chicago have found that adding goserelin to a chemotherapy regimen reduces the risk of early menopause and improves overall survival..

The research team led by Dr. Kathy Albain recently presented their findings at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

232,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer are predicted in the US this year, according to the American Cancer Society.. Although the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age, it still affects 1 in 8 women under 45.

The main treatment for breast cancer is chemotherapy.. Young women who receive this treatment experience menstrual irregularities and amenorrhea (absence of menstruation), leading to premature menopause and loss of fertility.. Findings 'may change clinical practice' A Loyola University team conducted a phase III clinical trial to test the effects of goserelin (brand name Zoladex), a hormone drug that is already FDA-approved for the treatment of prostate cancer and certain types of breast cancer. Scientists tried to test whether goserelin could delay the onset of menopause in patients receiving chemotherapy.

The researchers enrolled 257 patients under the age of 50 with early-stage breast cancer.. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group (131 women) received standard chemotherapy. The second group (126 women) received goserelin in addition to chemotherapy.. All patients were followed up for 4 years..

Women from the second group received injections of goserelin once every 4 weeks along with the usual chemotherapy regimen, without any significant changes or additions..

After 2 years of starting the study, the team found that 45% of the participants in the first group had stopped menstruating or had high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), a sign of reduced ovarian function.. In the second group, which received goserelin, there were only 20% of such women..

Moreover, the researchers calculated that 21% of women who were treated with goserelin were able to become pregnant during these 4 years.. And this is compared to 11% in the control group on standard chemotherapy..

After 4 years of therapy, the research team found that 89% of women in the goserelin group had no signs of cancer compared to 78% of women in the standard chemotherapy group.. At the same time, 4-year survival was 92% and 82%, respectively, that is, goserelin also slightly increased survival..

Researchers say goserelin works by temporarily putting the ovaries into a " Side effects with goserelin treatment are unlikely.. They, according to scientists, were associated mainly with low ovarian activity, and not with the toxic effect of the drug itself..

Commenting on the results of her study, Dr. Albain wrote: “We found that goserelin not only reduces the risk of early menopause and related problems, but is very safe and even improves survival.. I think these results will change our clinical practice.”.

Recently, Western publications reported on an important discovery made by researchers from the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Michigan. Their statistical analysis showed that the removal of both mammary glands (bilateral mastectomy) for breast cancer in most cases is not a necessary procedure..

medbe. en.