Breast cancer remedies that can save a woman’s life can seriously harm her sexual overall health, says Dr. Kristin E. Rojas, a breast cancer surgeon at Sylvester Extensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller College of Medicine. Even though medical doctors have not historically been ready to enable sufferers handle these toxic side effects, Rojas is top efforts to turn the tide.

Rojas, each a fellowship-educated breast surgical oncologist and a gynecologic surgeon, is a national leader in treating sexual dysfunction in female sufferers undergoing cancer therapy. Other, extra broadly recognized side effects of lifesaving estrogen-blocking drugs – also identified as endocrine therapy – consist of challenges with pregnancy arranging for premenopausal sufferers and lowered bone mineralization. According to Rojas, all 3 of these subjects must be addressed as early as feasible when arranging a course of therapy for a breast cancer patient with an estrogen-sensitive tumor.

Rojas will recognize dangers posed by endocrine therapies, define symptoms and talk about therapy selections in a presentation at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.

“By employing endocrine therapy to treat hormone-good breast cancers, we’re placing a lot of young ladies into menopause, but we’re not performing a excellent job preparing them for it,” mentioned Rojas, who produced a system to address women’s sexual overall health soon after cancer therapy, the Menopause Urogenital Sexual Wellness and Intimacy Clinic (MUSIC) at Sylvester. Faced with unexpectedly higher demand, the clinic required to expand quickly soon after opening in 2020. Given that Rojas expanded the system by education added professionals to accommodate this excellent require, the MUSIC system has turn into a prototype for equivalent applications across the nation. It remains the only women’s oncology-focused sexual overall health system led by a dual-educated surgeon in the United States.

Individuals are generally hesitant to bring up sexual overall health difficulties with their providers, and that is why we produced this groundbreaking system exactly where sufferers can openly talk about these difficulties in a a single-on-a single survivorship system. If we never address these widespread issues knowledgeable by extra than 80% of female survivors of cancer, patient adherence to endocrine therapy decreases, and the progress we have created in enhancing breast cancer survival is impeded.”

Kristin E. Rojas, breast cancer surgeon at Sylvester Extensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller College of Medicine

Rojas’ ASCO presentation will enable providers anticipate and treat the most widespread side effects knowledgeable by sufferers on endocrine therapy (or estrogen-blocking drugs), formulate a customized therapy program, guide sufferers toward proof-primarily based practices and away from potentially damaging “fringe” therapies, and troubleshoot widespread pitfalls encountered in the therapy of menopausal symptoms.

Amongst particular subjects:

• Hot flashes – causes, triggers and remedies.
• Vaginal dryness and painful sex – causes, irritants, and adjustments to the vaginal microbiome.
• Genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) – causes, remedies, lubricants, devices and medication selections.
• Items, “therapies” and devices to prevent.
• Infertility threat and selections for fertility preservation.
• Lowered bone mineralization and improved fracture threat – monitoring and prevention approaches.

Rojas’ presentation is portion of a session she will chair: “A Juggling Act: Managing the Toxicity of Estrogen Deprivation for Individuals With Breast Cancer,” Education Session E451. It will start at eight a.m. June five, 2023 (CDT), portion of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.