• Juliane Baumgart, Kerstin Nilsson, Anneli Stavreus-Evers, Kristiina Kask, Kenneth Villman, Henrik Lindman, Theodora Kallak, and Inger Sundström-Poromaa.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Örebro University Hospital, Sweden.
• Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 2011 Jan 1; 204 (1): 26.e1-7.

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of urogenital symptoms and vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal breast cancer patients on adjuvant endocrine therapy.Study DesignA population-based, cross-sectional study on postmenopausal breast cancer patients on adjuvant endocrine treatment and age-matched control subjects. Vaginal atrophy was assessed by gynecologic examination and atrophy-related symptoms by validated questionnaires.ResultsIn all, 57.6% of aromatase inhibitor-treated and 32.4% of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients rated at least 1 vaginal atrophy symptom as moderate/severe, which was significantly more common than in control subjects (P < .01). Aromatase inhibitor-treated patients more often had moderate or severe vaginal atrophy (P < .05), a more atrophic cytohormonal evaluation, and significantly higher vaginal pH (P < .05) than all control subjects, irrespective of hormonal use.ConclusionOur findings indicate that the frequency of vaginal atrophy symptoms, particularly in aromatase inhibitor-treated women, might have been underestimated in previous clinical trials.Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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