The occurrence of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea in postoperative and premenopausal patients with breast cancer and its influencing factors

Abstract

Objective To study the influence of postoperative chemotherapeutic regimens on menstruation in pre-menopausal patients with breast cancer. Methods 120 pre-menopausal patients with breast cancer from Jan 2010 to Dec 2012 were followed-up. The occurrence rate and recovery rate of chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) were analyzed. The relationship between different chemotherapeutic regimens and CIA of various age groups was analyzed. Results 120 women were followed-up, 94 (78.3 %) patients developed CIA. The frequency of CIA in younger patients (≤ 35 years) was significantly lower than that in patients older than 35 years (P 0.05). Conclusions Age is an important influence factor of the CIA. Chemotherapy has less influence on the menstruation of younger patients (≤35 years) and most amenorrhea is reversible. The effects of sequential addition of taxanes in chemotherapy and anthracyclines alone on menstruation have no significant difference. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Chemotherapy; Ovarial function; Amenorrhea