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Contraception and Hormone Replacement Therapy in Healthy Carriers of Germline BRCA1/2 Genes Pathogenic Variants: Results from an Italian Survey

Authors :
Claudia Massarotti
Barbara Buonomo
Miriam Dellino
Maria Campanella
Cristofaro De Stefano
Alberta Ferrari
Paola Anserini
Matteo Lambertini
Fedro A. Peccatori
Source :
Cancers; Volume 14; Issue 14; Pages: 3457
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

Several myths and misconceptions exist about hormones in women with familial predisposition to cancer, and there are few real-life data on their prescription and uptake. To better understand how they are prescribed and accepted in healthy carriers of a BRCA1/2 pathogenetic variant, an online survey was uploaded on Google Forms and shared through social media closed groups of patients’ associations, aBRCAcadabra and ACTO Campania. A total of 241 questionnaires were collected. Sexual quality of life was considered of the utmost importance by most of the respondents (mean score of 7 ± 2.8/10), but they felt the counseling they received by healthcare professionals on the topic was insufficient (4.9 ± 3.2/10). Only 57 women out of 233 (24.5%) had used hormonal contraception after being diagnosed as carriers of a BRCA pathogenetic variant, and 42 out of 148 (28.4%) underwent menopause hormonal therapy. The majority of women (53.6% for contraception and 61.5% for menopause) reported being dissatisfied with the counseling received, and 58.2% were not aware of the protective effect of hormonal contraception on the risk of ovarian cancer. An educational effort is desirable to guarantee healthy BRCA carriers reliable contraception and evidence-based menopause counseling.

Details

ISSN :
20726694
Volume :
14
Issue :
14
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Cancers
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....55b02cdce05aa7a8b775a4dbcbe6ab59