Abstract P2-09-09: The effects of treatment-induced symptoms, depression and age on sexuality in premenopausal women with early breast cancer receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy
Authors: Ribi K , Luo W , Burstein HJ , Naughton MJ , Chirgwin J , Ansari RH , Walley BA , Salim M , van der Westhuizen A , Abdi E , Francis PA , Budman DR , Kennecke H , Harvey VJ , Giobbie-Hurder A , Fleming GF , Pagani O , Regan MM , Bernhard J 
Published: March 2017

Background: In premenopausal women with breast cancer any treatment that causes abrupt, premature ovarian failure increases the risk of sexual problems. Randomized-controlled trials in this population reported a worsening in sexual functioning over time irrespective of adjuvant endocrine treatment. We investigated key symptoms related to endocrine therapy, depression and age as predictors of sexual problems in premenopausal women with early breast cancer treated in the IBCSG TEXT/SOFT trials over the first two years of endocrine therapy.

Methods: A subset of patients (pts) enrolled by centers with English as primary language to TEXT (1027 of 2672 pts) and SOFT (1260 of 3066 pts) completed a questionnaire consisting of global and symptom-specific quality of life indicators, the CES-Depression (CES-D) and the MOS- Sexual Problems (MOS-SP) measures at baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months. The analysis considered 5 cohorts of pts according to chemotherapy use (yes/no), trial (SOFT/TEXT) and endocrine treatment assignment (tamoxifen alone [T], T or exemestane [E] with ovarian function suppression [OFS]). Mixed modeling was used to test the effect of the following on changes in sexual problems (MOS-SP total score) over two years: changes in treatment-induced symptoms (hot flushes, vaginal dryness, sleep disturbances, bone/joint pain, troubled by weight gain, tiredness, nausea/vomiting) from baseline to 6 months; depression at 6 months; and age at randomization. The model included severity groups of symptoms, depression (all dichotomized by median) and age (&lt; 40 vs ≥40 years), 5 cohorts, time points (6, 12, 24 months), baseline covariates, and interactions of symptoms, timepoints and cohorts.

Results: Overall across cohorts, pts with more severe worsening of vaginal dryness and sleep disturbances at 6 months reported a greater increase in sexual problems at all timepoints (p&lt;.0001). The effect of vaginal dryness on sexual problems was most pronounced in the cohort of pts who received T+OFS or E+OFS without chemotherapy; the effect of sleep disturbances was most pronounced in the cohort with prior chemotherapy and T alone. All other symptoms had a smaller impact on differences in changes of sexual problems. Significant effects were only seen in the short-term and varied according to cohort. Severity of depression at six months did not predict sexual problems at the later timepoints in the overall population. In the cohort that received T+OFS or E+OFS without chemotherapy, pts who had more severe depression scores at 6 months reported significantly worse sexual problems at all timepoints (p&lt;.05). No differences were found for younger vs. older pts with respect to sexual problems at any timepoint.

Conclusion: Among several key symptoms related to endocrine therapy, only vaginal dryness and sleep disturbances significantly predicted sexual problems during the first two years in pts who received adjuvant endocrine therapy with or without chemotherapy. Depression predicted sexual problems only in the cohort of pts who received combined endocrine treatment without chemotherapy. Early identification of vaginal dryness, sleep disturbances and depression is important for timely and tailored interventions.

Citation Format: Ribi K, Luo W, Burstein HJ, Naughton MJ, Chirgwin J, Ansari RH, Walley BA, Salim M, van der Westhuizen A, Abdi E, Francis PA, Budman DR, Kennecke H, Harvey VJ, Giobbie-Hurder A, Fleming GF, Pagani O, Regan MM, Bernhard J. The effects of treatment-induced symptoms, depression and age on sexuality in premenopausal women with early breast cancer receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-09.