Interview
with Neil Love, MD from Breast Cancer Update for Medical Oncologists,
Program 5 2000
Play
Audio Below:
One
of the issues with chemotherapy though – and we know from just
observing in our own practices, especially with the younger women
– they may become amenorrheic for a period of time, they start
to menstruate again. Even some of the patients who don’t become
amenorrheic may have ovarian function knocked down, they may be
in for premature menopause. I suspect that they all have ovarian
function affected to some degree or another, and so it’s a
question of whether you get a complete medical ovarian ablation
– in most of them you probably don’t unless they’re
older or close to menopause anyway, and if you don’t get quite
as big an effect then adding in a complete ablation may do something
more. And I mean, when you look back at the data of how many of
these chemotherapy regimens are more effective in pre- than in postmenopausal
women, you have to keep thinking that some of the difference in
those effects may be just an endocrine effect, period. It may not
be that we gave higher doses or that the disease is different in
any other way, but just that we’re getting the chemotherapy
effect the same in the older and the younger women but that we’re
adding an endocrine effect in the younger women.
Combined
endocrine therapy for breast cancer - New life for an old idea? Davidson, N. E. (Reprint available from: Davidson NE Johns Hopkins
Oncol Ctr 1650 Orleans St,Rm 409 Baltimore, MD 21231 USA). Journal
of the National Cancer Institute 92(11):859-860, 2000 Jun 7. No
abstract
