- Trial finds that drug called goserelin can cut the risk of early menopause
- The drugs aims to ‘put the ovaries to rest’ during chemotherapy
17:50 EST, 30 May 2014
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18:30 EST, 30 May 2014
Young women being treated for breast cancer have a better chance of retaining their fertility by using a well-established hormonal drug, claim researchers.
A major clinical trial has found adding a drug called goserelin to chemotherapy significantly cuts the risk that the treatment will trigger an early menopause.
It also showed that women who wanted to have children were more likely to become pregnant and deliver a healthy baby.
Treatment: Researchers found that adding a new drug to chemotherapy cuts the risk of an early menopause in breast cancer sufferers
‘In addition to reducing the risk of early menopause, and all of the symptoms that go along with menopause, goserelin was very safe and may even improve survival,’ said researcher Dr Kathy Albain.
The results were unveiled yesterday at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology 50th Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Dr Albain, the study’s lead researcher, of Loyola University Medical Center, said the aim of the drug was to temporarily put the ovaries to rest during chemotherapy.
Although goserelin, marketed as Zoladex, is already given to some women in the UK, the latest trial will encourage doctors to use it more widely.
Risk: The new drug decreases the risk that women will be unable to conceive
The number of British women under 50 diagnosed with breast cancer each year exceeded 10,000 for the first time in 2013, making around one in five of the total. A key concern is whether drug treatment will trigger an early menopause.
In the latest study of more than 250 premenopausal women under 50 who had early-stage breast cancer, half had standard chemotherapy and the rest chemotherapy plus goserelin.
After two years, 45 per cent of the women receiving chemotherapy had stopped menstruating or had high levels of a hormone known as FSH, which suggests their fertility is being affected. By comparison, the figure was only 20 per cent in the women receiving goserelin.
The pregnancy rate was nearly twice as high in the goserelin group, 21 per cent to 11 per cent.
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Mwansa,
West Croydon. Got a Uni degree, United Kingdom,
2 days ago
How is there a link between fertility and breat cancer? nonsense
Z1A900,
London, United Kingdom,
2 days ago
What that photo again, she must be about 65 now !
Vsproul,
London,
2 days ago
Brilliant news
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