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Management of complications from estrogen deprivation in breast cancer patients

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Abstract

In the United States today, more than 2 million women live as breast cancer survivors. As the number of cancer survivors grows, the unique long-term side effects of cancer treatment and aging play an increasingly prominent role in the routine care of these patients. Of special concern are the short- and longterm effects of sex hormone deprivation. This article reviews current issues surrounding the acute and late effects associated with hormone deprivation in breast cancer survivors and summarizes the scientific and therapeutic discoveries to date to identify optimal nonestrogenic treatments for symptom control in individual patients.

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  1. Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Mailman School of Public Health, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, 161 Fort Washington, Room 1068, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Dawn L. Hershman

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  1. Dawn L. Hershman
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  2. Christina Cho
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  3. Katherine D. Crew
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Correspondence to Dawn L. Hershman.

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Hershman, D.L., Cho, C. & Crew, K.D. Management of complications from estrogen deprivation in breast cancer patients. Curr Oncol Rep 11, 29–36 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11912-009-0006-6

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