Abstract
Lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) determination by dual photon absorptiometry was used to study the influence of adjuvant chemotherapy for premenopausal breast cancer on the risk of premature osteoporosis. Six cycles of combination chemotherapy caused ovarian failure in 31 of 44 (71%) women, amenorrhoea mostly already beginning during treatment. In contrast, only seven of 44 (16%) women, who were pair-matched for age and year of breast cancer surgery and had not been treated with chemotherapy, were post-menopausal at the time of measurement. The mean interval after breast surgery was 3.5 years. The significantly decreased BMD in the treated group (1.17 compared to 1.29 g cm-2) could only be explained by the high incidence of menopause in these women, which on average occurred 10 years prematurely. Extrapolation of these findings suggests that adjuvant chemotherapy may precipitate osteoporotic fractures by some 10 years in a considerable proportion of women cured of premenopausal breast cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bruning, P., Pit, M., de Jong-Bakker, M. et al. Bone mineral density after adjuvant chemotherapy for premenopausal breast cancer. Br J Cancer 61, 308–310 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1990.58
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1990.58
This article is cited by
-
Bone-matrix mineralization dampens integrin-mediated mechanosignalling and metastatic progression in breast cancer
Nature Biomedical Engineering (2023)
-
Changes in bone mineral density during 5Â years of adjuvant treatment in premenopausal breast cancer patients
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (2020)
-
AMH – Ovarreserve nach onkologischen Erkrankungen
Journal für Gynäkologische Endokrinologie/Schweiz (2020)
-
Profiles of lipids, blood pressure and weight changes among premenopausal Chinese breast cancer patients after adjuvant chemotherapy
BMC Women's Health (2017)
-
Effects of Bushen Tianjing Recipe in a rat model of tripterygium glycoside-induced premature ovarian failure
Chinese Medicine (2017)