Hormone treatment for breast cancer linked to chronic disease later in life

Women who receive hormonal therapy for breast cancer are at increased risk of developing chronic conditions later in life, according to new research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

A study led by UniSA PhD candidate Huah Shin Ng found that rates of depression, osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, pain and gastric disorders were higher among breast cancer survivors who had received hormonal cancer treatment than among those without breast cancer.

Hormonal therapy, also known as endocrine therapy, is currently used to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence for 70% of breast cancers in Australia.

It is typically administered after surgery or a course of chemotherapy, and/or radiation.

The study compared the health of two groups of women over a 10-year period. The first group comprised women who were receiving hormonal therapy for breast cancer and the second group was made up of women of a similar age who did not have breast cancer.

The emergence of chronic disease and the frequency with which it developed was mapped in both groups.

The researchers found that chronic illnesses developed more frequently in women with breast cancer and the risk for cardiovascular conditions, depression, and osteoporosis was greatest during their first year of hormonal therapy.

“There are a number of potential explanations for having an elevated risk of developing chronic illnesses,” Huah Shin says.

“Several chronic conditions and breast cancer share common risk factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical inactivity. The higher occurrence of chronic conditions may reflect greater awareness and increased health care use associated with the treatment of breast cancer. Cancer medications may also contribute to developing chronic conditions.”

The study was the first of its kind in Australia to comprehensively examine the relationship between a diagnosis of hormone-dependent breast cancer and the development of successive chronic diseases.

“Our results support the need to develop appropriate models of care to manage multiple chronic illnesses of breast cancer survivors. The study was, however, limited by the use of a single dataset. Additional data would help us obtain a more comprehensive overview of chronic disease profiles in cancer survivors.” 

(Source: University of South Australia, Medical Journal of Australia)